Yu-Gi-Oh! GX: Dawn of a New Legend
by MeganiteDuelist92
Summary: Jaden Yuki and a handful of friends from around the country join him in entering a school on an island where the teachers are strange, and the adventures are even stranger. Life will throw them several curveballs, but the main question is will they get through the year alright, or are they doomed? Reviews appreciated, not flames. Please check out poll on profile, and vote.
1. Road to Duel Academania! Part 1

Ch.1- Road to Duel Academania! Part 1-

A teenage girl with dark brown hair, which was tied back with an emerald green barrette, and jade green eyes, hidden behind a pair of glasses with wire framing, leaned back against the railing, and glanced down at the dark gray watch that rested in her hands. Her reflection expressed annoyance, as if she was waiting for something, or someone. She wore a pale lavender sweatjacket over her purple t-shirt, a pair of blue jeans, and white sneakers.

"Hey, Bella!" a voice called out.

Bella looked up to see who called her, and saw her friends, a large dark-skinned man and a shorter tan-skinned boy, walking up to her, panting heavily. The larger boy was half a head taller than his two friends, had light brown skin and an inch of fluffy black hair, with a pair of glasses resting in front of his hazel eyes. He wore a white t-shirt and a neon green sleeveless hoodie over it, with dark blue and yellow track pants and neon green sneakers. The shorter boy wore a blue jacket over a maroon t-shirt, blue stonewashed jeans with a few tears in the knees, and black shoes, and his fluffy light brown hair was neatly combed, and his light brown eyes peered out under his bangs.

"Did she show up yet?" asked the bigger boy.

"No, Ramon, and I'm completely ticked off about it!" Bella complained, fuming.

With a strained yell, she turned and faced forward.

"You idiot, how could you be late for such an important day?!" she shouted, scaring several people nearby. "I should clobber you for this when you get here!"

Her friends sweatdropped heavily before walking away.

"Kenneth, I'd hate to be her sister now." said Ramon.

"You're telling me." Kenneth agreed, with a sigh. "We've got exams today, and Ken decides to grab a late breakfast."

Outside- In front of the building-

Ken, a fairly tall, tomboyish punk, stood outside the building, as she heard her sister's screams of rage, and knew she was in serious trouble. The tomboy wore a red and white sleeveless flannel shirt over a clean white t-shirt, black slacks, and black leather boots. She had messy black hair, with three spikes slicked back on top, and dark brown eyes behind a pair of black horn-rimmed glasses, which seemed to be full of anger and darkness. The applicants standing nearby stepped back a little, terrified of the person who was shouting inside, but this particular punk scratched the back of her head, chuckling embarrassedly.

"She's gonna kill me this time." Ken spoke, a little scared. "I should've stayed home like mom suggested."

"Let me guess, sister?" a boy, with black spiky hair with red highlights, standing in front of her asked.

"'Surrogate sister' actually, but she says she keeps me so she can keep me out of prison, or worse. So, you gonna try out at the Academy, too?"

"Yup! And I'm gonna kick butt too! I'm Rakaia Meiyo, I came all the way from Georgia."

Rakaia extended his hand, offering a handshake. He was dressed in a gray long-sleeved jacket over a black shirt, with matching black jeans and a gray belt with a gold buckle, black fingerless gloves, and black belted boots. He also wore a red dragon necklace around his neck on a silver chain. His light brown eyes were almost hidden by his black spiky hair, which was decorated with red highlighted streaks.

"Kendra Warren, but call me 'Ken', everybody does." the girl greeted, shaking his hand. "Hey, you're the dragon duelist, I've heard talk about you at the tournaments. You faced my buddies Alex and Matt in a tournament."

"You're Matt Rock and Alex Holt's friend?" asked Rakaia.

"You bet, Matt's trying out as well, he's probably with the rest of the gang, already finished with their exams. I'm the last of our little group from Michigan."

"I could tell, from the way your sister was screaming like that. I'm here with a few of my friends too."

"Next applicant, please?"

Ken and Rakaia looked up to see they were next, and stepped forward to hand in their tickets and sign in. Afterwards, they headed inside, and found two girls waiting by the railing. One was Bella, and the other was a Hispanic young woman with orange-brown hair which covered her forehead. The new girl wore a white t-shirt with orange trimmings, and a black denim skirt, a matching leather belt, and white sneakers. Both of them were glaring at the two late applicants, causing them to freeze up.

"Oh, God, that's my sister." Ken muttered, nervously.

"And that's my friend, Sega," Rakaia announced, miserably. "I think we're both going to die even before we take our exams."

"Maybe they won't kill us, maybe they'll forgive us."

"You think?"

(Insert chibified Kuriboh screen transitions here!)

"Why you little-!"

"Say 'uncle', punk! Say it!"

Several people watched as Rakaia was being comically strangled by his friend, Sega, and Ken was put in a leg lock by Bella, who also whacked Ken repeatedly over the head with a random aluminum bat. Ramon, Kenneth, and two other boys watched as their friends fought.

"I...was WRONG!" Ken yelped, as Bella continued to pummel her.

"Bella, if you keep it up, you will kill her." the blond-haired boy spoke up.

"Leave it alone, Matt," the taller boy with brown hair told him. "They'll be done in a few seconds or so."

"Chris, Ken kinda needs to be alive in order to take the test though."

And back with Rakaia and Sega, three girls standing nearby were trying to get Sega to release Rakaia.

"Sega, please, control yourself!" the auburn haired girl pleaded, as her two friends were trying to separate the other two. "You're going to get in trouble!"

"Hailey's right, let go of him!" the black-haired girl beside her added, as she tried to pull Sega's hands off of Rakaia's throat. "Geez, I'm surprised he hasn't died by now."

Sega ignored the two, focused on strangling her friend, until a pale hand reached out in front of her face, and flicked her on the nose, hard, making her let go. Rakaia fell to the ground, coughing and gasping as he rubbed his throat.

"Thanks, Will." he wheezed.

Will, a girl with dark brown hair that went down to her back, nodded, then smacked Bella upside the head, making her stumble and fall to the side, releasing Ken. Ken staggered away, and her hands covered the growing bump throbbing on her head.

"Now, you two go to your corners!" Will scolded the two people. "If you're going to act like children, then I'm going to treat you as such!"

"...Do we look five to you?" asked Bella.

She saw Ken opening her mouth to retort, and glared at her. Then they heard a voice speaking over the P.A. System, and it got everyone's attention.

"Will Ken Warren please report to Exam Field 3, and Rakaia Meiyo to Exam Field 2, please?" the voice announced. "Ken Warren, report to Exam Field 3, and Rakaia Meiyo to Exam Field 2."

"Awesome, we're up!" Rakaia cheered, laughing excitedly.

Ken eagerly pounded her left fist into her right hand a few times before heading down the staircase to the arena with Rakaia behind her. Then Bella called out to her friend/surrogate sister, causing the elder female to look back up, stopping in her tracks.

"Exam Field 3's over that way, ya dingbat!" Bella shouted again, pointing to her right. "Go down those stairs!"

"Oh, uh, heh heh!" Ken chuckled, embarrassedly. "Right, thanks, squirt!"

She dashed up the steps and made her way towards the rightmost stairs that led to Exam Field 3. Unfortunately, along the way, she tripped over a backpack, and felt herself rolling down the staircase, then launching up into the air.

"Oh, boy." Hailey groaned, covering her eyes.

"OH, MONDO UNCOOLIO!" Ken screamed, flailing her arms and legs.

She landed with a crash that caused many people in the building to cringe heavily. Back up by the bleachers, a short blue-haired boy winced at the sight of the crash landing.

"That had to hurt." he said.

"I'm okay!" Ken's voice shouted, reassuringly.

Elsewhere in the bleachers, a pair of teens, one a blond-haired girl dressed in a white and blue sleeveless collared top and a blue skirt, the other a male with long blue hair, a similar-looking white coat with blue trimmings, and blue pants, were watching the chaos unfold in front of them.

"I recognize the kid, she's one of the winners of the custom deck contest, the owner of the deck based off of the Robot Alchemic Drive video game." the blue-haired teen spoke, with barely any emotion in his voice.

"And that guy over there is the second best dragon duelist in the world, next to Seto Kaiba," the girl added, pointing to her right.

Her friend followed her gaze towards Rakaia, who had just made his way to the Duel Arena he was assigned to.

"Interesting. Now let's see if they can succeed with their duels." he said, looking Rakaia's way. "But frankly, I want to see if the rumors are true about this boy."

"I'm more interested in which deck the kid down there is going to use, Zane." the girl told him.

* * *

While the duels were going on, another teenage boy with wild medium brown hair, with a patch of orange on top, and brown eyes rushed down the street to head to the place where the Duel Academy Entrance Exams were taking place. He dashed through a crowd of people going about their day, focused on trying to make it there in time. The boy was dressed in a dark gray jacket which was worn over a collared red t-shirt, and dark gray pants with brown shoes, and a light gray backpack was worn on his back.

"Alright! I got my deck, and I got my gear, and I got about two minutes to get to the Duel Academy Entrance Exams before they start!" he told himself. "Oh well, at least since I'm not a student yet, they can't throw me into detention hall for being late!"

Looking up to see the building he was supposed to be at, he double-timed and continued heading for it, apologizing and excusing himself as he passed through groups of people, who stared in surprise as he hurried off. However, he finally hit a speed bump in the form of a tall man in a black sleeveless shirt with a studded buckle collar, and black leather pants with blue jeans, a black belt with a silver buckle hanging under the first one, which was a different style and hung around his waist. He also wore a pair of brown shoes, and black and silver wristbands, the latter matching his outfit. The boy crashed to the ground after bumping into the man, and several of his cards and his dueldisk fell out of his backpack, causing him to immediately begin picking them up.

"Sorry." the boy apologized, turning to the man, with a good-natured smile.

The man watched as the boy continued picking up his cards, dusting off the dirt from one of them.

"You're a duelist, aren't you?" he asked, a smile on his face.

"Yep! I'm just going to try out at the Academy!" the boy responded cheerfully.

This brought about a chuckle from the man standing behind him, as he reached into the deckbox attached to the belt hanging below the one around his waist.

"You don't say." he said, smiling still.

The boy finished picking his cards up and putting his dueldisk back into his backpack, before getting up to put his hand behind his head, chuckling sheepishly.

"Yeah!" he said.

Then he opened his eyes and realized who he was talking to. The multi-colored, spiky hair, those violet eyes, that outfit. He was in awe. Was he just speaking to...?

"H-Hey! You're...!" he said, with wide eyes.

Yugi Moto held up a card, holding it out for the kid to take.

"Why don't you take this?" he offered. "Something just tells me that it belongs with you."

He watched the boy, still stunned, take the card, and walked off.

"Good luck." he told him.

The kid turned to him, smiling.

"Thank you!" he said. "I'll make you proud!"

He bowed to the King of Games out of respect, which caused Yugi to turn back, shooting him a thumbs up, then continue on his way. The kid watched him leave, unable to believe his luck. He not only met the King of Games, but was also given one of his own cards too! He looked down at the card again in awe. It was a Winged Kuriboh card, one of the cards in the Kuriboh archetypes. Suddenly, he heard a faint cooing sound, and looked around, startled. Where did it come from? Then he suddenly remembered he was late for the exams, and took off, pocketing the card as he ran.

"I can't be the next King of Games if I'm late to the games!" he told himself.

* * *

"Yeah, mom, I got in. Actually, we all got in. Chris, Ramon, Matt, Bella, Kenneth, even me."

Ken stood outside, leaning back against the wall of the building, with her cellphone planted on her right ear.

"We start setting out tomorrow morning to the school, and they're aware of the accommodations Mr. Sorentino, Mrs. Gunter, and Mrs. Griffin set up for me and Matt." Ken informed her mother, casually. "Chancellor Sheppard wants to talk to us as soon as we get there, so we can meet our paraprofessional. Yes, we're sharing one."

Rakaia walked outside, with his cellphone in hand, and saw Ken's expression turn into one of annoyance, as she breathed an aggravated sigh.

"Yes, mom, I'll stay out of trouble this time." she reassured her mother, in a rather irritated tone. "I'll talk to you and the others over video chat as soon as I get in my dorm room. Tell Erdrick, Loki, and Nero I miss them."

She hung up her phone and ran a hand through her short, spiky hair.

"Mothers." the dark-haired tomboy sighed.

"Just called your folks up too?" asked Rakaia.

"Yeah, mom, aunt Jamie, aunt Sandy, aunt Stacy, and aunt Sam made me swear to let them know what happened after we took our exams. They're at my oldest sister's baby shower now."

"Oh, that's cool. Boy or girl?"

"Boy. My first nephew. God help me and my friends if he inherited his mother's craziness."

The two of them laughed until Rakaia looked to the side and saw a hand grabbing onto the railing a few feet away from the sign-in station was parked. They looked to see a boy with brown and orange hair trying to climb up, and immediately rushed to help him. Rakaia and Ken both grabbed an arm and pulled him over the railing, and the three of them crashed to the ground.

"Th-Thanks." the boy said.

"Don't mention it." Rakaia responded, politely.

"Are you here for the exams?" asked Ken.

The boy's eyes lit up, and he immediately got to his feet and went to sign in, leaving the other two still on the ground, then doubled back to help them up.

"Let's hurry up and get you to your duel." said Rakaia.

The three of them ran into the building and headed down the hall.

"My name's Jaden Yuki." said the boy.

"Ken Warren," Ken greeted, with a grin. "This is Rakaia Meiyo, nice to meet you, Jaden."

"Likewise!"

* * *

As promised, I began working like hell on the new installment. I was inspired to do this kind of fanfic by a few other authors, and initially I wasn't about to go through with it, for various reasons, but some of my friends told me I should go through with it. If you're gonna flame, get lost. I'm not dealing with it. As for disclaimers:

Hailey Ryan is owned by Peach Wookiee, Luna Tenshi, and Crayus and Rakaia Meiyo are obviously owned by Rakaia The Dragon Duelist, Sega Rivera is owned by Sega herself, Will Rosen is owned by 15animefreak15, Laura is owned by Hyruleepona, Taryn and Jessi Yuki are owned by Dyusu. As for my OCs, Ken, Matt, Kenneth, Chris, Bella, and Ramon, they're owned by me and my Duel Club familia. Don't own the original series part of the plot, but I did tweak with it a bit. The main plot is owned by Kazuki Takahashi and everyone else who helped bring Yu-Gi-Oh! GX into this world. Robot Alchemic Drive is developed by Sandlot, and published by Enix, so I guess they own the game. The Meganite and Volgara cards are being posted up on Deviant Art.

There, I remembered to do the disclaimer. Yes, I'm proud of myself for remembering. No, I don't expect a medal, just a kick in the rear if I forget again in the future. Please review, and do so kindly, and check out my other works if interested. Thank you, and good night.


	2. Road to Duel Academania! Part 2

Ch.2- Road to Duel Academania Part 2-

"What do you mean 'took off'?!" asked Sega.

Luna Tenshi and Hailey Ryan winced upon the shout, as their friend glared with a mixture of annoyance and fury. Sega immediately began pacing back and forth, fuming.

"What, so he thinks that because he passed the exams, he can suddenly wander about aimlessly?" she asked.

"Do you mind?" asked Will. "I'm trying to watch this duel."

She was looking down at the last duel of the day, which involved a tall teenage boy with grayish brown hair that was neatly combed back, and eyes just as gray. He wore a white and black trimmed jacket with matching white pants and black shoes, and a standardized duel disk was strapped to his left arm. He had just 3200 life points on him, with one card facedown in his Spell and Trap Card Zone, while Vorse Raider, his only monster, was left standing in Attack Mode on his side of the field. His opponent, another dueling proctor, had just a Gear Golem the Moving Fortress and a Big Shield Guardna on his side of the field in Defense Mode, with DEF pts. higher than the boy's monster.

"Okay, new guy, multiple choice: You've got two monsters staring you down," the proctor told his opponent. "Do you: 'A.) Throw in the towel, B.) Beg for mercy, or C.) Run home to mama?"

The teenager across from him answered without hesitation, and with bold confidence.

"I'll go with D.) None of the above!" he responded.

His facedown card flipped up, revealing to be a well-known Trap Card.

"A trap?!" the proctor exclaimed.

"Exactly," the boy replied, calmly. "You see with Ring of Destruction, I can destroy any monster on the field that's in Attack Mode, and then we both take damage equal to that monster's ATK pts.."

As he said this, a metallic black ring with red bulbs protruding around it enveloped around Vorse Raider's neck, surprising the proctor. The ring exploded, destroying the monster, and dealt 1900 pts. of direct damage, which was all the proctor had, compared to his opponent's now remaining 1300 points.

"Clever move, applicant!" the proctor announced. "Welcome to the Academy!"

The boy bowed politely to him in a manner of respect.

"Thank you, O' wise proctor." he replied.

Back up in the bleachers, Will smiled at the boy who won.

"That was awesome." she spoke.

"Careful, Rosen. You're drooling." Sega teased her.

Hailey watched the two friend bicker with a smile, then out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Rakaia and Ken standing beside a pair of boys whom she knew nothing about. One of the boys was a blue-haired kid with light blue hair, and wore glasses, a dark blue jacket that was buttoned up, and matching blue pants with black shoes. Beside him was a boy with messy brown hair with a patch of orange on top, he wore a dark gray jacket over a red shirt, and gray pants with brown shoes, with a gray backpack on his back.

"I think I'll tell Sega I found him later." Hailey mused to herself, as she looked back to her bickering friends.

Elsewhere in the room, a trio of boys watched as the duel holograms disappeared from view. All three were wearing matching blue and white-trimmed blazers, but had different hairstyles. The boy on the right had dark blue hair with a strand sticking out on the side, and a pair of glasses in front of his dark gray eyes, while the boy on the left had brown hair, with spikes that stuck upwards, with dark eyes also. The boy in the middle had spiky black hair that curved forward and upward in the back, and had dark gray eyes also, that stared down at the competition with what one would assume would be a look of contempt.

"Wow, that guy's pretty good, don't'cha think, Chazz?" the blue-haired boy spoke in a Western-like accent.

"Guess the rumors about him being some kind of wiz kid are true." the brown-haired boy spoke next, before turning to the one called "Chazz". "Huh, Chazz? Huh?"

"He's a punk," Chazz declared, sticking his nose up in the air with an air of snobbery. "We went to Duel Prep School for the past three years, we're ready for the Academy."

He then opened his eyes, looking forward once more.

"These kids don't know what they're getting into, but they'll learn," he continued, with a smirk. "The hard way. The Chazz Princeton way."

As for Jaden, Rakaia, Ken, and the blue-haired boy, they had other things on their mind.

"Wow, that new guy really tore it up." said Jaden.

"Yeah, Bastion Misawa," the smaller boy told him. "They say he got the highest score out of the written exam out of all of us applicants."

"No kidding?" asked Rakaia.

"Dude..." Ken said, with a low, long whistle.

"Wow, I just barely passed." said Jaden.

"Same here."

Ken just stood there, feeling a bit awkward, which went unnoticed.

"Yeah, me too, my name's Syrus by the way. Nice to meet you, guys." the shorter boy spoke, with timidity in his voice. "I kinda have a thing where I get test anxiety. I don't know how I won my match."

"So you're in!" Jaden spoke, giving him a very enthusiastic pat on the back, surprising him. "Congradulations, I'll be in too as soon as I win my duel!"

"Wait, you haven't dueled yet?" asked Syrus.

"Naw."

"Then you might have a problem, I think this was supposed to be the last one."

This caused Jaden to freak out. This could be bad, but luckily for Jaden, the Universe is always happy to perform a random act of kindness. Several yards away, a group of staff members of the Academy were conversing with one another over the amount of students that were enrolling this year, all except for a lone teacher that sat at the end of the area. He was a tall man with long blond hair that was tied back in a ponytail, and he wore a blue blazer with white trims, a pink frilly collar with matching ruffles around the end of the sleeves. He also wore a dark blue pair of pants and white boots. The man gazed down at the dueling field with piercing dark eyes for another brief moment, then was about to head off, until the man from the check-in area headed over to him to tell him about their last arrival ready to take his duel test.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but one last applicant has arrived to take his exam, Mr. Crowler." he spoke.

"Did you just call me 'mister'?" asked the blond-haired man.

"Oh, sorry, I'm new here, missus."

The teacher hardly showed he was annoyed at the honest mistake the man before him was making, correcting him that he was to be called "doctor", as he had a Ph.D in dueling. He then told the man to head off to tell Jaden he wasn't going to take his exam and would have to wait next year.

"Oh, come on, Dr. Crowler," one of the other proctors pleaded with him. "We have time for one more."

"Yes, let's give this duelist his shot." an elder proctor on Dr. Crowler's left agreed.

"He was just a bit late." a third proctor piped up.

Dr. Crowler exploded right there and then, and was about to let them have it, if it were not for the phone call that stopped him. He clicked a button and held the phone to his ear.

"Hello, and who may I ask is-" he began, still fuming.

"It's Sheppard." a voice on the other end replied.

This changed Dr. Crowler's mood completely.

"Ah, Chancellor Sheppard!" he spoke, in a more calmer tone.

"Just calling to make sure that everything's running smoothly, Crowler," the Chancellor announced, in a mildly stern tone. "Wouldn't want a repeat of what happened last year."

Dr. Crowler's eyes widened in shock and remembrance. Don't you just love the way the Universe works?

"When you cut a third of our applicants for some ridiculous reason?" Chancellor Sheppard continued, his voice growing more annoyed as he reminded the doctor. "What was it? Calling you 'mister' or 'missus'? Whatever, just make sure everyone gets a fair shot."

"Absolutely!" Dr. Crowler replied, annoyed. "Furry-chinned windbag!" he added, after hanging up.

_"Doesn't he realize there are enough talentless flunkies at this Academy?!" _Dr. Crowler mentally griped. _"But he's the boss. And if he wants to give this scrimshanker a duel, fine."_

"Pardon me, gentlemen," he said, as he got up. "I'll be right back."

He began to walk away, until one of the other proctors asked him who would duel Jaden, and which deck to use. However, Dr. Crowler had other plans. While he did this, Jaden and Syrus headed down the stairs, while Rakaia and Ken excused themselves to head back to their respective groups. As Bastion removed his dueldisk with an exhausted sigh, Jaden stopped behind him with a smile.

"Tight duel, Bastion!" he complimented the prodigy.

Bastion was a bit taken aback by the compliment, or the fact that someone was talking to him as if they were good pals, then regained his natural composure.

"Thank you." he replied.

"From the looks of it, you might just be the second-best duelist here!" Jaden continued, with a pleasant smile still.

The statement itself caused both Syrus and Bastion to be taken aback, as they wondered what he meant. However, Jaden wouldn't get to explain, as he was called down to duel.

"Go time!" he cheered. "Wish me luck!"

As he began heading down the stairs, Bastion stopped him, still curious as to what he meant.

"If I'm second-best, who's first?" he asked.

Jaden pointed to himself, confidently.

"Yours truly!" he declared. "It's what I'm best at!"

Syrus and Bastion watched as he continued down the stairs, wondering if he was as good as he said.

Elsewhere-

Matt watched as Jaden continued descending down the steps, with Kenneth and Bella on either side of him.

"So, Ken, who is this guy?" he asked.

"His name's Jaden," Ken replied, leaning back against the wall with her arms crossed over her chest. "That's all I know about him, other than the fact that he's late."

"He's late, you're late, that Rakaia guy was late, seems to be a lot of lateness going on here." said Bella.

"Give it a rest, Bella, you griped at me enough today."

"Okay, now who's that guy?" Kenneth asked, pointing at down at the arena.

Ken walked over to join them, and saw Dr. Crowler getting a customized dueldisk equipped to him.

"Don't know, but I'm getting a weird feeling from him." she told them.

"Gut feeling or the...other one?" asked Matt.

"Numero dos, amigo."

Back over with Rakaia and his group of pals, they were watching also, all five of them leaning over the railing with intense gazes.

"You say you got a feeling on this kid, right?" asked Sega.

"A very good one." Rakaia replied, with a smile. "And you know when I've got a feeling about something, it's never wrong."

"Except for the last few times." Will reminded him.

Rakaia looked up at her, astounded.

"Uh-uh!" he shot back.

"I.E., when you claimed that you had a feeling about our fifth grade English teacher being a vampire because he hated the daytime," Hailey spoke up, nonchalantly. "And when you thought Mrs. Jenkins was Garfield in disguise just because she didn't like Mondays and loved lasagna."

Rakaia slowly turned to glare at her, and was met with a sheepish smile on the auburn-haired girl's face. Down below in the arena, Jaden was brought into the field by a mechanical lift, and faced his opponent, whose dueldisk was finally fully equipped.

"So, son, your name?" Dr. Crowler asked.

"Uh, Jaden." Jaden answered, standing at attention. "Jaden Yuki."

"Well, uh, 'Jaden Yuki', I'm Dr. Vellian Crowler. Department Chair of Techniques here at Duel Academy."

"Wow, a department chair, I had no idea! From how you were dressed, I was thinking you were some kind of weird Academy mascot! Like a majorette, or a cheerleader!"

Dr. Crowler began to feel completely ticked off more than he was earlier. Up in the bleachers, the blue-haired boy sitting on Chazz's right thought real hard about what Jaden said.

"Hey, you know," he spoke up. "Now that he mentions it..."

"This kid's got some lip, huh, Chazz?" the brown-haired boy commented.

Chazz ignored them, he was irritated at Jaden's actions and behavior. Who did this upstart slacker think he was? Above them, Rakaia was trying his absolute hardest not to laugh, while Sega snorted with laughter.

"Good one, kid!" she complimented the duelist.

As for the Michigan group, the six teens grinned eagerly as they watched the pre-duel events unfold.

"I give him an A+ on the trash talk." said Matt.

"I give him an A+ on the effect it had on the opponent," Ramon pointed out, as he nodded at the fuming doctor. "Look at him."

Dr. Crowler was indeed furious at the ignorance of the child in front of him, soon he regained his composure, and activated his dueldisk. He figured that the sooner he beat this slacker, the better. He drew his hand after it turned on, and Jaden stared in awe.

"Hey, that's pretty sweet, teach!" he complimented the teacher. "How do I get one of those cool blue duel blazers?"

"Oh, a lot of hard work and extremely high marks." Dr. Crowler replied, casually.

_"Of course you have to get into Duel Academy," _he thought. _"And I intend to make certain that won't be happening."_

"Well, I'm ready!" said Jaden.

"So, let's duel!" the two duelists exclaimed.

The duel began, and Jaden drew his hand, both starting up with 4000 full life points. Then Jaden began his turn.

"Here goes!" he stated, drawing his card.

The card he drew was Elemental Hero Avian, a winged, bird-like humanoid monster with 1000 ATK and DEF points. In this hand were the Spell Cards Monster Reborn, Polymerization, and the Warrior Returning Alive, and the Trap Cards Hero Signal and Draining Shield. Jaden smirked, knowing what to start off with.

"Sweet!" he said. "I'm gonna summon Elemental Hero Avian in Defense Mode!"

With that, he slapped the card in his down face-up and sideways, which caused the actual monster to appear on the field in a crouching position, with his arms crossed over his chest. Dr. Crowler watched this with a calm gaze, as Jaden then selected another card in his hand, and slid it in the Spell and Trap Card Zone.

"I'll also throw down a facedown!" Jaden finished, ending his turn. "Alright, get your game on!"

"Yes, yes, very good." said Dr. Crowler. "Don't tell me what to do."

He chuckled to himself as the automatic device built into the dueldisk spat out the top card on his deck into his hand, and Dr. Crowler looked at the six cards he had. The card he drew was a Statue of the Wicked Trap Card, and the five cards in his hand were another Statue of the Wicked card, and two Spell Cards called Confiscation and Heavy Storm, and an Ancient Gear Golem and Emes the Infinity, a pair of high-leveled monsters.

_"After all, since I'm using my own personal deck, rather than one of those test ones, I'll be calling all the shots." _the doctor thought, calmly. _"I'll fail that insolent little brat and send him home in no time."_

"Alright, for this first move, I think I'll start nice and easy," he said, putting the card he drew in his hand, and taking another card. "I choose to play the Spell Card Confiscation!"

He held up said card, which caused Jaden's eyes to widen slightly.

"Okay, so what's it do?" he asked.

"What it does is allow me to pay 1000 life points for the chance to peek at your hand," Dr. Crowler explained. "And toss one of your cards into the Graveyard."

The four cards in Jaden's hand glew with a bright blue light, and they appeared in see-through holographic images before Crowler's eyes. He scanned them briefly, smiling mockingly as he did so, deciding which one to banish.

"Oh, yes, I remember some of these back when I was a naive rookie," he stated, to Jaden's annoyance. "Now which one should I banish?"

Then he lifted a hand and pointed to one card.

"Monster Reborn, to the Graveyard!" Dr. Crowler announced.

Said card flipped over for Jaden to see before it shattered, and the other three cards' images vanished from the teacher's view. Then Dr. Crowler picked out two more of his cards from his own hand.

"Next, I'll lay two cards facedown on the field," he said, sliding them into his Spell and Trap Card slots. "And last but not least,..."

He held up a familiar Spell Card for Jaden to see.

"I'll play Heavy Storm!" he announced. "This Spell Card destroys every other Spell and Trap card that's out on the field!"

With that, a gust began to pick up, and then when the winds grew even more fierce, Jaden's facedown card flipped up, revealing to be Draining Shield, and then Dr. Crowler's facedown Statue of the Wicked cards were destroyed.

"Whoopsie!" Jaden said, after watching his opponent destroy his own cards. "Did you forget that you had two Trap Cards out on the field yourself?"

But unfortunately for him, Dr. Crowler wasn't worried in the slightest.

"Now, now, you musn't speak out of turn, young scholar." he stated.

Suddenly, they were surrounded by a dark, cloudy fog, and Jaden stared in confusion.

"What's happening?!" he asked.

"Nothing's happening," replied Dr. Crowler. "Not yet!"

He shot out his right hand, and two golden, snake-like fiends with jade gems on their foreheads emerged from the ground. The crowd gasped in amazement, and Syrus and Bastion watched with anticipation.

"Uh, could somebody tell me what's going on?" asked Syrus.

"The two Trap Cards Dr. Crowler had on the field were called 'Statue of the Wicked'," Bastion explained, patiently. "It's a special Trap that creates a vicious token monster when destroyed. That's why he played Heavy Storm."

Back where Chazz and his friends were sitting, they watched the duel with interest.

"A card that strong couldn't be in one of the test decks!" the blue-haired boy realized. "Crowler must be using his own!"

"Then this is over!" the brown-haired boy declared. "No applicant can beat the deck of an expert like Dr. Crowler!"

"Yeah, it's impossible, don't'cha think, Chazz?"

"Yeah, what do you think, Chazz?"

"I think I'm going to enjoy watching Crowler mop the floor with our mouthy little friend down there!" Chazz replied, in a satistfied tone. "I only wish he treated all of the other second-rate duelists who applied to this Academy the same way!"

However, not everyone had the same opinions as he did, well, not all those dressed in blue school uniforms. The blond-haired girl who was observing Rakaia and Ken earlier stared down at the duel in disgust. She felt bad for the boy dueling Dr. Crowler.

"What an elitest snob," she muttered. "Bullying some amateur with his very best cards."

"You're too soft, Alexis." the boy beside him spoke.

Alexis turned to look at him, confused, as he continued.

"I just hope we get to see that legendary rare monster Crowler has had stashed away in that deck of his." he finished.

"At the very least, I wish he dueled that Rakaia kid, or the girl with the Gladiator Beasts, and not this poor kid." said Alexis.

"The dragon duelist will get his challenge eventually. He and the girl with the Fairy deck are so far the only two I want to duel out of this entire bunch."

"Really? I'd like to take on the one with the giant robot deck."

"Hey!"

The two of them turned around to see Ken standing right behind them, facing to the right as if she was walking past them.

"They're 'Meganites'." she told them. "Not hard to remember."

She walked past them and headed back to her group of friends, while Alexis and her friend stared.

"Guess she told you." the boy spoke, turning back to the duel.

"Haha, Zane." Alexis shot back.

Back down in the duel, Jaden stood, waiting for Dr. Crowler to continue.

"Ready for your next lesson?" the doctor asked.

He expected the young man to be ready to chicken out and take off, he expected him to cry and beg for his mama, but he didn't expect Jaden to be so excited about what'd happen next.

"You bet!" Jaden stated, grinning. "I can't remember the last time learning was this much fun!"

Dr. Crowler glared at him for a moment, then stuck up his nose at him.

"Yes, well I'm quite an excellent teacher, thank you," he told him. "And now, I sacrifice my two Wicked tokens, and summon Ancient Gear Golem!"

The two tokens disappeared in a sea of flames, and in it's place emerged a giant, hulking mechanical humanoid. With 3000 ATK pts., it certainly spelled trouble for Jaden and his Avian.

"There it is!" Alexis shouted, amazed. "The legendary rare card!"

Zane watched from beside her with an intentful gaze.

"And I'd say we're about to find out what makes it so legendary." he said.

The audience watched the duel with just as much intent, but Jaden's eyes seemed to be full of anticipation. To Dr. Crowler, the mere sight of it was delicious.

"Now, now, I hope you're not too scared of my legendary Ancient Gear Golem." he said, in a mocking tone.

Once again, Jaden's response was not only unexpected, but it also annoyed him greatly.

"Aw, no way!" the E-Hero user replied. "I've always wanted to take one on!"

Dr. Crowler was fuming angrily now, while the audience was very impressed with his bravery. Even Chazz's friends were impressed, a little mind you, but still impressed. Zane himself was puzzled at Jaden's willing to continue the fight.

"He's staring down that legendary, ancient rare monster like he doesn't have a care in the world," he mused aloud. "I guess that youth and inexperience have their benefits after all, huh, Alexis?"

Alexis wasn't puzzled in the slightest, she felt amazed at Jaden's eagerness.

"Come on, give it a rest, Zane," she said. "At least the kid's showing some backbone."

"There won't be much of it left to show after this." Zane told her.

Rakaia stared down at Jaden, with a proud smile on his face.

"Atta boy, Jaden!" he cheered. "Way to stare in the face of terror!"

"I have to hand it to him, he's handling this situation in a very cool way." said Luna.

"On the downside, Dr. Crowler's going to be dishing out a crapload of damage." Will pointed out.

Now back with Jaden and Crowler, Dr. Crowler declared an attack.

"Golem, attack!" he cried. "Mechanized Melee!"

The Golem reared back it's fist, then let it fly at Avian, destroying him instantly.

"Aw, Jaden's monster didn't stand a chance!" Syrus said, watching the duel closely. "His DEF pts. were way too low! This isn't looking good!"

"And it's about to look a lot worse." Bastion told him. "When Ancient Gear Golem attacks a monster in Defense Mode, the difference between it's ATK pts. and the defending monster's DEF pts. get dealt to the opponent as damage."

"But that would mean...Jaden's life points are gonna take a hit!"

As he said this, the ghost of the Golem's fist shot at Jaden and hit him, taking half of his life points. Dr. Crowler laughed mockingly at Jaden's state, as he heard a soft crying sound coming from him.

"Don't feel bad, this is the top dueling school in the country!" Dr. Crowler said to the teenager. "Some people just simply aren't cut out...for..."

While he was speaking, Jaden's supposed crying turned into laughter, which got louder and louder, as he lifted his head back up to look at his opponent.

"Boy, I really want to come to this school now!" he announced. "You really know your stuff, teach!"

Dr. Crowler grew surprised at the boy's outburst, and grew more irritated than before.

_"Can't he take a hint?!" _he wondered inwardly. _"He will not be allowed to pass these exams! And he certainly won't be permitted to make a mockery of my deck!"_

Jaden confused Dr. Crowler's expression of sheer rage with excited shivering.

_"Just look at him tremble!" _he thought. _"He must really be impressed by me!"_

Jaden was about to draw his next card to start his turn, until a faint cooing sound stopped him.

_"What was that?" _he wondered, drawing his card and staring at it in shock. _"Oh, it's you!"_

The card he drew was Winged Kuriboh, the same card Yugi Moto had given him earlier. He remembered the King of Games' words, and figured he'd give the adorable little fluffball a shot. He scanned the card briefly, and was taken aback when the little monster on the card suddenly winked at him.

_"Alright, I'll take that as a sign to play you!" _Jaden decided at last. _"Yeah, definitely!"_

"I summon Winged Kuriboh in Defense Mode!" he announced out loud.

The small winged monster emerged onto the field, staring down Dr. Crowler and his monster. Up in the bleachers, Ken stared at it intensely, and Bella turned to look at her.

"What is it?" asked Bella.

"The monster he just played." Ken told her, as she put a hand to her chin in thought. "It's not a normal card."

"For real?" Kenneth asked, looking at her.

"Oh yeah."

Elsewhere, Rakaia was speaking to his friends about the same thing.

"You mean that little guy might be alive?" asked Luna.

"In a manner of speaking." Rakaia answered, thoughtfully.

"Cool." Hailey stated, with a nod.

Dr. Crowler however had his own ideas about the cute little monster in front of Jaden, and watched as the teenager made his final moves for the turn.

"And I'll place one card facedown!" Jaden said, placing a card in the Spell and Trap Card slot. "Not bad, huh, teach?"

Dr. Crowler simply laughed in response.

"No, not bad, but you must understand that I am a master techtician. A Kuriboh, to me, is rather pedestrian," he commented, looking at the monster. "Even one with wings you see. It's DEF pts. are still no match for my Ancient Gear Golem. It's a textbook mistake, don't feel bad. Now let's proceed,..."

He drew a card to begin his turn, but it was clear Dr. Crowler was aiming to go straight into his Battle Phase.

"...with the legendary Ancient Gear Golem!" he commanded the monster. "Attack that Kuriboh with Mechanized Melee!"

Once again, the mechanical giant reared back it's fist and let it fly at the little furball. Winged Kuriboh stood there, bravely, as the attack came closer, and was destroyed instantly. Jaden watched the pieces descend with sadness.

_"Sorry, Winged Kuriboh." _he thought.

As Jaden mourned for the tiny monster's defeat in battle, Dr. Crowler waited impatiently for Jaden's life points to hit zero. They didn't.

"Check your gear, your life points haven't changed." he told Jaden.

"My gear is fine," Jaden explained, looking up at him. "On the turn Winged Kuriboh is destroyed, I take zero damage."

Dr. Crowler was surprised at this revelation, and this was kinda shocking to the other applicants.

"How about that, a technique the good doctor didn't know?" mused Alexis.

"No one can be expected to know every technique, Alexis," Zane reminded her. "Especially one as obscure as that."

While that was true, Alexis had to hand it to Jaden.

"Well that kid sure knew it." she retorted to her friend.

Rakaia snickered to himself as he watched the duel.

"Nice way to throw the opponent off guard, Jay." he said, grinning.

"Aww, how could he hate such a cute little ball of lovable fluff?" asked Hailey.

"Better question: How could you destroy something so cute?" Will corrected her.

As Jaden put his fallen friend into the Graveyard slot on his dueldisk, Dr. Crowler let the insults fly.

"Fine, fine, I guess your lame little monster saved you then." he remarked.

"Hey, slow down there, teach," Jaden shot back. "You may have beaten him, but that doesn't give you the right to call him lame."

"Oh, yes, I forget how attached you new duelists get to your monsters. I'm sorry."

Even though Jaden knew that apology was all but insincere, he was ready to set the stage for Winged Kuriboh's avenging.

"Yeah? Well, you should be," he said, grinning. "Because by attacking my Winged Kuriboh, you set off a Trap card! One of my favorites too: Hero Signal!"

The facedown card on Jaden's side of the field flipped face-up and revealed to be Hero Signal, which lit up and shot out a Batman signal-like beacon with the E-Hero insignia as the symbol. Dr. Crowler gazed at the symbol in surprise, as Jaden wasted no time in picking out the card Hero Signal would be designating.

"And that brings out my second Elemental Hero, Burstinatrix!" Jaden called, as he held out a card selected from his deck.

Burstinatrix appeared onto the field in a burst of crimson red flames, dressed in a white and mostly red costume, and smoky black and white long hair with a golden crown-like headpiece attached to her head. She also wore red flame-shaped fingerless gauntlets, and boots that matched her clothing. The female E-Hero stood in Attack Mode with 1200 ATK pts..

"My turn!" Jaden shouted, drawing a card.

He looked at the card he drew, and stared at it.

"Alright, Winged Kuriboh, this next one's gonna be for you." he muttered to himself, before speaking aloud. "Here goes nothing."

He set the card he drew in his hand, then selected another one from it.

"First off, I'm gonna bring back Avian to my hand with the Spell Card, The Warrior Returning Alive," announced Jaden. "And now, I'm gonna summon him to the field."

Elemental Hero Avian returned to the field, this time standing up straight beside his fellow comrade Burstinatrix. The audience was confused at why the E-Hero duelist did this with Crowler's Golem still out. Dr. Crowler however took this as an opportunity to mock the boy.

"Oh, okay, another amateurish mistake," he began. "But this is good, this is good. Now would anyone like to tell me what our little friend did wrong here-"

"Actually I wasn't done yet," Jaden interrupted him. "See, I know my two heroes aren't very powerful by themselves, but if I can form them together, it's another story. And I have just the card to unite them!"

He held up another card to Dr. Crowler's growing irritation, and the two Elemental Heroes leapt into the air.

"Polymerization! Join Avian and Burstinatrix!" Jaden called, as the two monsters merged. "Fusion Summon!"

The melding process completed and a new green, black, and red humanoid monster with a dragon/angel hybrid wing and a red dragon's head for his right hand appeared on the field. He also had a dragonic tail and sharp claws on his left hand and feet.

"There he is!" Jaden exclaimed proudly. "The Elemental Hero Flame Wingman! I hope your Gear Golem is ready for a clash of the titans!"

The audience gasped in amazement at Jaden's new monster, however Dr. Crowler wasn't worried.

"I think you're dueling very well for an amateur," Dr. Crowler complimented the young man. "But next time, try playing a monster that has more ATK pts. than what's already out."

Up in the bleachers, Syrus was confused, the monster looked pretty tough. It could take out the old monster.

"Uh, what's he mean?" he asked.

"He means that Wingman's ATK pts. are no match for his Golem's 3000," replied Bastion. "Shame, too. Because when the Wingman destroys a monster, that monster's ATK pts. are dealt as damage to his owner."

"Wait, you mean, they're deducted right out of his life points? Oh, that would've been a great way for Jaden to turn things around."

Bastion smirked in response.

"Well, if your friend's as good as he says he is, he might still find a way." he reassured him.

"Wow, did we really seem like friends?" Syrus asked, sheepishly.

And sure enough, Jaden wasn't finished yet.

"Alright, young scholar, I don't mean to rush you, but I am a busy man," said Dr. Crowler. "Are you done yet?"

"Of course I'm not done yet!" Jaden declared, smirking. "And of course I knew my Wingman had less ATK pts. than your Golem!"

He raised his dueldisk slightly as the Field Spell compartment opened. Dr. Crowler then noticed that Jaden still had a card left, and was ready to use it.

"That's why I have this," Jaden said, turning the card around for his opponent to see. "Skyscraper!"

He slid it in and thrust his left fist forward, as the card activated. In no time at all, modern buildings shot up from the ground all around the field, making the field look like a city from a comic book. In the bleachers, Ken stared at the scene, eagerly.

"In the words of Sonic the Hedgehog**_*_**: 'Way past cool!'" she cheered, grinning widely.

"Rock him like a hurricane, kid!" Matt agreed, pumping his fist into the air.

"Go, Jaden, go!" Rakaia hollared from a few ways away.

"Yeah, get'm!" Hailey added, clapping cheerfully.

Dr. Crowler gasped in shock as he and Jaden were surrounded by city skyscrapers. His monster stuck out like Godzilla in Tokyo, while Elemental Hero Flame Wingman stood atop a building several yards in front of it, staring down at the mechanical behemoth.

"Alright, Flame Wingman, go show those heroics, and attack that Ancient Gear Golem!" Jaden commanded his monster.

The winged monster obeyed his owner's command and took off, charging at Ancient Gear Golem. Dr. Crowler however still wasn't worried.

"Fine with me! Bring him on!" he challenged his opponent. "This silly little Field card hasn't lowered my Golem's ATK level by one point!"

The E-Hero continued flying bravely towards the machine monster, then landed on the ground, before swifly leaping into the air.

"You know somethin', teach, you're right! This Skyscraper Field hasn't lowered your Golem's ATK pts.," Jaden told Crowler. "What it does is raise my Elemental Hero Wingman's, by a grand total of...one thousand!"

Dr. Crowler's face fell, turning into one of complete shock.

"Wait, time out!" he cried.

Too late.

"Go!" Jaden shouted. "Skydive Scorcher!"

As Flame Wingman's ATK pts. grew from 2100 to 3100, he flipped downwards, and as he was surrounded by a flaming aura, he plummeted towards the Ancient Gear Golem. Dr. Crowler could only watch in horror as the hero crashed into the mechanical beast, creating an explosion. The audience watched, completely shocked, as Dr. Crowler's life points now began to take a hit.

"This can't be!" Dr. Crowler cried, unable to believe his prized monster was defeated. "He was my very best card!"

The Flame Wingman landed next to Jaden, while a chunk of the Golem fell on Crowler's head. He wasn't done yet.

"And 'cause of my Wingman's superpower, the ATK pts. of that Golem are dealt straight to your life points," Jaden said, shooting him a light salute. "Sweet, huh?"

"N-No way..." Dr. Crowler muttered in disbelief.

The Golem literally fell to pieces upon his master, and crushed him. Crowler's life points hit 0 in no time, and Jaden shot him a two-fingered salute.

"That's game!" the teenage boy stated. "So, I guess I passed the test, huh, teach?"

The field returned to normal, and Dr. Crowler stared up at the boy in disbelief.

"Impossible!" he muttered, still in denial. "There's no way this delinquent could defeat me!"

The performance in the duel had mixed reactions from the crowd, Chazz thought Jaden won by dumb luck, unable to accept that Jaden was good enough to possess even a decent amount of skill. Alexis, however, felt different about it.

"That kid's got a future here!" she said, smiling down at Jaden. "Wow!"

She looked up at Zane, only to see him walk away, not commenting on the E-Hero's performance. Syrus and Bastion however agreed with Alexis and thought Jaden was a great duelist.

"Alright!" Syrus cheered, happpily. "Yeah, Jaden!"

_"Nice, I could use a little competition." _Bastion thought, smirking with eagerness.

Several feet away, Rakaia and his friends watched Jaden cheered out loud to the people around him.

"Man, now I've gotta duel him." said Rakaia.

"Elemental Heroes versus dragons?" Sega mused, thinking to herself. "Now that I'd like to see."

Rakaia felt a presence behind him and turned to see Ken and her group joining them. He looked at Ken, who stared back with a grin plastered on her face.

"You do realize that you're not the only one who wants to see how good this kid really is, right?" asked Ken.

"Of course, and I want to see for myself how tough your giant robots-" Rakaia started.

"'Meganites'!" Ken and her friends corrected him.

"Sorry, 'Meganites'. I want to see for myself how tough they are."

Ken's smirk grew wider, and the two groups separated once more. Back down in the arena, Jaden continued laughing it up, happily. He would be joining his new friends at the Academy.

"I made the Academy!" he cheered. "I'm in! I'm in!"

He suddenly remembered something, and took a card from his deck, smiling at it. The card was the Winged Kuriboh that was given to him.

"We're both in," he corrected himself. "And from here on out, you and I...will be partners."

The little adorable monster hooted and winked at him in agreement.

* * *

And so, Jaden won his duel, and he earns the right to attend Duel Academy with his new friends. What will they find when they get there? Will we get to see Jaden throwing down with Rakaia's dragons and Ken's Meganites? And what did Zane think of Jaden's dueling skills? All will be revealed...in the future! Next chapter, the applicants arrive at Duel Academy and we view the pre-school year chaos that unfolds. Please review, and don't flame. If I get four reviews, I'll update. Deal? Okay, then I'll throw in some cookies, my Fourth Hour Crew says cookies help in any situation. Matt says Scooby Snacks work just as well, but I don't think you guys eat doggy treats, right? Well, that aside, adios and don't forget to review! I'm working on a new chapter every...twelve hours, I guess, I'm already started on the fourth one... Well, 'til then! Orthen out!

Hailey Ryan is owned by Peach Wookiee, Luna Tenshi, and Crayus and Rakaia Meiyo are obviously owned by Rakaia The Dragon Duelist, Sega Rivera is owned by Sega herself, Will Rosen is owned by 15animefreak15, Laura is owned by Hyruleepona, Taryn and Jessi Yuki are owned by Dyusu. As for my OCs, Ken, Matt, Kenneth, Chris, Bella, and Ramon, they're owned by me and my Duel Club familia. Don't own the original series part of the plot, but I did tweak with it a bit. The main plot is owned by Kazuki Takahashi and everyone else who helped bring Yu-Gi-Oh! GX into this world. Robot Alchemic Drive is developed by Sandlot, and published by Enix, so I guess they own the game. The Meganite and Volgara cards are being posted up on Deviant Art.

*****As pointed out by Sundown17, I have missed one. SEGA owns Sonic the Hedgehog, and I am a huge fan of the cartoon series that was on Toon Disney.


	3. Roommates and Pre-School Chaos

Ch.3- Roommates and Pre-School Chaos-

Duel Academy Island- Harbor-

The morning after the day of the exams, the applicants that had passed the exams boarded a helicopter with their belongings, and set out to their new school. Jaden, Syrus, Bastion, and the other new applicants got off and began heading to the school to pick up their new gear, and were dressed in their new school uniforms. Jaden and Syrus stepped out of the bathroom, wearing their new red and white-trimmed blazers, and saw Rakaia straightening his own red jacket.

"Hey, Rakaia, you got the same one we did!" Syrus pointed out, as he and Jaden went to meet him.

"Awesome!" said Rakaia.

"Hey, amigos!" another voice shouted to them.

The three boys turned to see Ken walking towards them, dressed in a mostly blue jacket with white trims on it and not her red flannel shirt.

"Why'd you get a blue one?" asked Rakaia.

"And why are your sleeves shorter?" asked Jaden.

"Sensory issue," Ken explained, embarrassedly. "Can't stand long-sleeved shirts, and most fabrics. As for the blue color, they didn't say why."

Before they could continue the conversation, they were called to a classroom for orientation. The students crowded inside and waited patiently until a bearded, balding man's face appeared on the screen.

"Good morning and welcome, my students," the balding man greeted, cheerfully. "I'm Chancellor Sheppard, Headmaster here."

Most of the students listened and paid attention, all except for Jaden and Rakaia, who fell asleep standing up. Chancellor Sheppard went on to send them on their way to their assigned dorms. The students soon found that out through their PDAs, well, some of them found that out that way, while others figured it out by their jacket colors. Jaden and Syrus found out that they were in the Slifer Red dorm, and were quite happy about it. Bastion began heading off to his dorm, until Jaden stopped him.

"Hey, you in the Red too?" he asked.

"Well, now, let's see here, yellow sleeves, yellow buttons," Bastion said, looking at his jacket. "I don't think so."

"Oh, I see, so that's why Sy and I are in red."

"Please tell me you didn't just figure that out now."

Jaden shot him a look.

"So, what, ever think I was colorblind?" he asked.

"Well, no, actually. I didn't." Bastion replied, politely. "Are you colorblind?"

"Nope," Jaden replied with a chuckle. "But I could've been. See you around the dorms!"

"I doubt that, your dorm's over there."

He pointed to the right, and Jaden and Syrus looked that way, but didn't see a building.

"Rakaia's assigned to the red dorm also," said Bastion. "He's on his way there now, why don't you go meet up with him? I'm going to go set up my room and meet my new roommate."

Jaden looked back at his PDA, and tapped at a few buttons, before smiling.

"Cool, Sy and Rakaia are my roommates also." said Jaden.

"Who's yours?" asked Syrus.

"A lad named Matthew Rock." replied Bastion. "Would you happen to know who he is?"

"No, haven't met him before."

"Well, I'll be off now. Good day, gentlemen."

Obelisk Blue Girls' Dorm-

Alexis was struggling to carry her belongings up the stairs, and just when she reached the last step, she felt something give and felt herself falling backwards. She landed on a soft surface, and heard a slight yelp from beneath her, causing her to look down to see Ken.

"Sorry." she said.

"I'm okay." Ken told her, in a strained voice.

Alexis quickly got off of Ken, and helped her up.

"Hey, you're that Meganite duelist," said Alexis. "That was a great win you pulled off."

"Thanks," Ken responded, cheerfully. "I'm Ken Warren. Nice to meet ya."

"Alexis Rhodes, likewise."

Alexis went back to picking up her fallen bags, and Ken knelt down to help.

"Please, allow me." the shorter teen offered.

"Thank you." said Alexis.

"No problemo."

Ken helped her carry the bags up to her room, and set them down on the floor by the bed, then headed off to her room. While Ken had left, Alexis began setting up her room, until she heard a familiar yelp from the room next to her's. She darted out of her room, and into the one on her left, where Bella, Luna, Will, Sega, and Hailey were standing, and saw a pair of girls standing over a fallen Ken, who appeared bruised and wasgroaning painfully.

"Why is this day so full of pain?!" cried Ken.

"Ken, are you okay?" asked Bella.

"I am in so much pain!"

"She's okay."

The two girls that were standing over her exchanged glances.

"I told you she was a girl." one of them said, exasperated.

"Oops." the other girl responded, looking back at Ken. "Sorry."

"Thank you for not murdering me before the school year began!" Ken told her, in a dazed voice.

Meanwhile, at the boys' dorm, Kenneth, Chris, and Ramon had finished setting up their rooms, and decided to wander about the campus, until they had the misfortune of running into Chazz and his cronies. Chazz himself was quiet, while his two buddies were guffawing about something.

"Think there's a backdoor?" asked Kenneth.

"Let's find out." replied Ramon.

They began to leave, until they heard someone shout.

"Hey, you!"

The trio turned around and faced the three Obelisks that were standing behind them.

"You dare to walk down these halls and not show the great Chazz Princeton some respect?" the blue-haired boy demanded of them.

"Should we care?" asked Chris.

His two friends disagreed immediately, causing the two sidekicks to fume.

"Conklin, let's teach these disrespectful punks a lesson!" the blue-haired boy declared.

"You got it, Topher!" Conklin, the brown-haired boy, agreed.

"Hey, if you wanna start somethin', bring it on!" Ramon challenged them. "Three on three, tag team duel. No holds barred."

Chazz responded to the challenge with a snicker.

"Neither of you three are worth the time or the effort." he told them. "Come back when you actually have skills."

The three of them took off, leaving Chris, Ramon, and Kenneth glaring at them.

"First dodgeball day we get, we waste them like the snobs they are." Ramon told his friends.

"Sounds like a plan." Chris agreed.

"I'm in." Kenneth added.

Ra Yellow Dorm- Bedroom-

Matt walked down the hall, whistling a tune with a good-natured attitude, and his mobile suitcase rolling behind him. He carried a backpack on his back with his left hand, and pulled the suitcase along with his right, until he reached his designated bedroom, then opened the door.

"Hey, buddy," Matt greeted, kindly. "I'm Matt Ro-Whoa."

He stared in shock at the sight of the room. The walls were pale yellow, with tiny writing all over them, and on the right side of the room was Bastion. Bastion was hard at work, writing equations with a very focused look on his face. Matt wheeled in his suitcase, propping it up against a bed. After waiting patiently for a few minutes, his roommate finally caught notice of the new presence in the room, and turned to face him.

"Oh, hello, you must be Matthew." Bastion greeted him. "I'm Bastion Misawa."

"It's just 'Matt', dude." Matt told him. "Nice to meet you, though."

The two of them shook hands, and began talking.

Slifer Red Dorm-

While the others were getting acquainted with their roommates at their dorms, Jaden, Syrus, and Rakaia had reached their dorm, which appeared to look like a massive shack, or a motel.

"This isn't a dorm," said Syrus. "It's like an outhouse with a deck."

"You kiddin' me?" asked Jaden.

Syrus looked to see both Jaden and Rakaia looking out at the view of the ocean on the other side of the dorm.

"Check out the view!" Jaden told the blue-haired boy. "This place is great!"

"It just makes you feel so alive and free, like a bird!" Rakaia agreed, breathing in the fresh air. "Like an eagle even!"

Jaden then moved to open the door to their new room, and Rakaia and Syrus followed him inside.

"Alright, this one here is our room, guys." said Jaden.

"It's kinda small huh?" Syrus commented, shyly.

"Hey, you're a small guy."

"And soon, a big man on campus." Rakaia assured his friend.

"You think?" asked Syrus.

"We know, Sy!" Jaden confirmed, looking around. "Anyway, I like it. This'll make a sweet pad for our first year here."

"Yeah, kinda weird meeting at the entrance exams, and now roommates?"

A picture began to form in Syrus' head, as he continued.

"Think we were somehow connected to each other in some ancient life, guys?" he asked. "You know, like you were the Egyptian Pharoah, Jaden, and I was your guardian, Seto? Rakaia was the priest Shada."

"No offense, but that's just lame." replied Jaden.

Rakaia however thought it over for a moment, and then shook his head to clear his thoughts of what Syrus said.

"Well it could be true." said Syrus.

"Forget it, they broke the mold when they made the three of us." continued Jaden.

"Yeah, for different reasons."

"Sy, we're gonna have to work on that confidence."

"For real, you gotta have faith in yourself, dude." Rakaia agreed, cheerfully.

"First, let's work on this pad!" Jaden announced, opening a curtain.

"Hey!" a new voice shouted. "Those were closed for a reason!"

Rakaia and Syrus looked around for the source of the sudden shout, while Jaden looked at the top bunk of the bed. Syrus and Rakaia followed his gaze, and saw a large lump on the bunk, hidden beneath the blue sheets.

"Sorry." apologized Syrus.

"Yeah, we didn't see you up there." Jaden threw in.

"Well, can you see me now?!" the voice shot back, irritated.

The lump moved around, until a head poked up out of the sheets. It was a boy, who was slightly older than the trio on the ground, and he had black hair and beady black eyes. But from a quick glance, he appeared to resemble a koala. Jaden and Syrus held each other, while Rakaia backed into the wall, all three screaming out of sheer terror.

"Would you stop the screaming?!" the boy demanded them, shaking his fist angrily. "Who are you and what are you doin' in my room?"

Jaden and Syrus stopped screaming, along with Rakaia, and calmed down, the former two releasing each other.

"Oh, sorry, my name's Jaden Yuki." greeted Jaden.

"And I'm Syrus, and this is Rakaia." said Syrus, as he gestured to himself and Rakaia, who waved in greeting.

"We're your new..."

The older boy in the bunk bed shifted in his bed so he was laying on his side.

"...roommates..." Jaden finished, before turning to Syrus and Rakaia, confused.

"You're new alright, so let me tell you how things work here." the boy in the bunk said.

"Uh, what things?"

"Like when parents' weekend is gonna be?" asked Syrus.

"Or when pizza day is?" Rakaia threw in, earning confused glances from his friends. "I could sure use some pizzanow."

"Duh, like how the whole color thing works?" the bigger boy continued, as he now lay on his back. "That's more important than anything."

This got the other three Slifers' attention.

"You got three different kinds of students here: Obelisk Blue students, Ra Yellow Students, and Slifer Red students. Now the Blues are the highest-ranked students, some kids are Blue because of grades, others through connections, like money, power, or even scholarships. The Yellows are second-highest, mostly younger students with lots of potential," the older boy explained, thoughtfully. "Then there are us. The Red Wonders."

"Oh, cool." said Rakaia.

"The Wonders, that's a cool name." agreed Syrus.

For a very brief moment, that lifted Syrus' spirits, that is until the boy continued.

"As in 'I wonder how flunkies like us ever got this far' maybe." he stated, to Syrus' displeasure. "Yeah, sorry, but we're the bottom of the barrel here. Duelin' duds. Oh, I'm Chumley by the way."

Rakaia's eyes narrowed into a very annoyed glare, as he saw Syrus' face fall again.

_"Nice to meet ya, Chumley!" _the dragon duelist thought, sarcastically. _ "And thank you so much for killing my buddy's mood completely."_

Several Minutes later-

Jaden decided to go for a walk, and dragged Syrus and Rakaia with him. Jaden and Rakaia were trying to lift Syrus' spirits, but it was easier said than done.

"Come on, don't tell me you're still depressed." said Jaden.

"But Chumley said we Reds were the worst." Syrus reminded him.

"That's not true, Sy!" Rakaia told him.

"Yeah, forget that, I mean red's a sweet color!" Jaden agreed, wholeheartedly. "Think about it, where do you think the term 'red hot' comes from? From 'red', baby!"

"Well put, my man!" Rakaia cheered, happily.

"Besides the year hasn't even started yet, so how can we be the worst?"

This seemed to help, as Syrus' expression brightened up.

"Yeah, you're right, Jaden," he said. "'Red' is for 'red hot'! Scorching! Dangerous! Hot!"

While Syrus stood there, shouting to no one in particular, Jaden suddenly took off. Rakaia saw this, and went after him.

"I'm like a furnace!" Syrus continued, unaware of what was going on. "Or a really big bottle of spicy salsa dip! Right?!"

Unfortunately, he saw that he was by himself, as Jaden was heading off to the school, with Rakaia right behind him. Syrus put aside what he was talking about, and chased after them into the building. They walked down the halls for a while, as Jaden claimed that he could tell that there was some sort of duel action going on. Jaden led his two friends down another hall, as if following...whatever it was he was sensing this duel action with.

"It's over this way, I'm sure of it." the E-Hero duelist claimed.

"How can you be sure of it?" asked Syrus. "Do you have some sort of sixth sense for dueling or something?"

Jaden stopped at an intersection in the hall, and took a deep whiff, sighing happily.

"Ah, it's in the air, Syrus," he replied. "Can't you just smell it?"

"Whatever you smell, I'm not cleaning it up." Rakaia warned him, jokingly.

Jaden walked into another hall, which led to a massive duel arena, and Syrus and Rakaia followed.

"Are you sure we should be in here?" Syrus asked, nervously.

Jaden was too taken in with the sight of the arena to care, then Syrus and Rakaia became entranced by the sight. There were many bleachers, and the arena looked state-of-the-art, well, in Syrus' eyes anyways.

"This is the sweetest duel arena I've ever seen!" exclaimed Jaden.

"Yeah, no kidding!" agreed Syrus. "I bet it would be amazing to duel here!"

"Well let's find out."

"You think we're allowed?"

"Sure, we're allowed! We're students here, and this is our campus right?"

"Yeah!" Rakaia cheered.

"Wrong!" another voice declared. "This is the Blue Obelisk's campus!"

The three of them looked up to see a pair of Obelisk Blue students walking over to them. It was Topher and Conklin.

"And you Slifer Red rejects aren't welcome here, ya got that?!" Conklin told the Slifers. "Check out the crest!"

He nodded over to behind the red-clad trio, and they turned to see an emblem with the infamous blue-skinned Egyptian God's head embedded into it.

"This arena's out turf!" Topher stated.

Syrus turned back to the Obelisks, and apologized, offering to leave peacefully, but Jaden however, he and Rakaia disagreed.

"No, we don't have to leave," Jaden said, thoughtfully. "Not so long as...one of you guys agrees to duel me! I'll be a guest duelist, and these guys' too! Right?"

"I'd like a piece of that action!" Rakaia shouted, cracking his knuckles.

"Hey, it's them!" Topher gasped, looking between Jaden and Rakaia.

"Chazz, that applicant who beat Dr. Crowler is here!" Conklin shouted, looking to the side. "And that dragon duelist too! Check it out!"

Jaden, Syrus, and Rakaia took notice of the third member of the Obelisk Blue trio that was in the room, when Chazz poked his head up, glaring down at the Slifers.

"Hey, what's up?" Jaden greeted, good-naturedly. "My name's Jaden!"

"I'm Rakaia, and this is Syrus!" added Rakaia. "And he's...'Cheese', right?" he added, pointing at Chazz.

"No, no, it's 'Chuzz'."

Chazz glared at them in irritation.

"His name is 'Chazz Princeton', you Slifer morons!" Topher corrected him. "And he was the number one duelist back at Duel Prep School, so you make sure to pay the proper respects! Got it?"

"Think he'll take a check?" Rakaia muttered to his two buddies.

"Not likely." Syrus replied.

"Bummer."

"You don't get it, do you?" asked Conklin. "Chazz is going to be the future King of Games! The best duelist in the world!"

"Impossible!" Jaden retorted, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Say what?!"

"You see, it's impossible for him to be the future King of Games, because that's exactly what I'm gonna be!"

Topher and Conklin were taken aback by this bold declaration.

"Hey, I could be the future King of Games too, Jay!" Rakaia joined in, pointing to himself.

"Maybe, if you could beat me." said Jaden.

The conversation was interrupted by the Obelisk cronies' laughter, which stopped as the two glared at the Slifers.

"A Slifer Slacker as the King of Games?" said Topher. "That'll be the day!"

"Can it, you two!" barked Chazz.

All five heads turned to look at him, as he looked down at Jaden and Rakaia.

"Maybe the new kids are right." Chazz continued.

"Uh, what do you mean there, Chazz?" asked Topher.

"Don't forget, we've got a couple of...celebrities in the room, Rakaia Meiyo is the second best dragon duelist in the world, second only to Seto Kaiba. Also, Jaden here did beat Dr. Crowler after all, and that legendary monster of his. I suppose it takes some skill to pull that off."

Topher and Conklin nodded in agreement, as Jaden pumped his fist slightly.

"Got that right!" he agreed.

"Or was it luck?" asked Chazz. "I say that we find that out right now! And we'll start with Jaden!"

"Bring it!" Jaden shot back.

Before they could break out the dueldisks and throwdown however, new visitors emerged into the room.

"This sure is a motley crew." a female voice spoke.

The six boys turned their attention to see Alexis enter the fray, behind her was Ken, Hailey, and Luna.

"I recognize Ken, but who are they?" Syrus asked, nodding at the three dressed in actual girls' uniforms.

"Hey, Ken." Jaden greeted, as Ken joined them. "What happened to you?"

"Too long a story to tell, not enough time." Ken explained quickly.

"Hey, Alexis, have you come to watch me mop the floor with my new little friends Jaden and Rakaia here?" asked Chazz. "It'll be a short duel, and an entertaining one for sure."

"I'm here to remind you about the Obelisk Welcome Dinner, you're late!" replied Alexis.

"Oh, yeah. Come on, guys."

Chazz began to leave, but stopped, turning back to look at Ken.

"I expect to duel you sometime also, Meganite duelist," he told her. "You, Jaden, and Rakaia are all on my list, and I intend to take each and every one of you down. But I want to start with Jaden first, because I want the pleasure of defeating him before anyone."

"I warn you, we're not that easy to beat." said Ken.

Chazz laughed to himself as he, Topher, and Conklin left.

"We can so take him." said Rakaia.

"Better believe it." agreed Ken.

"Sorry if Chazz rubbed you guys the wrong way," apologized Alexis. "All of us Obelisks aren't like that. He's just a jerk. Especially with Slifers, or anyone he considers weak, actually."

It was clear that Chazz's actions toward the new students irritated her. He was one of those people who gave Obelisk Blues a bad name. However, Jaden didn't think much of it.

"Ah, it's no big deal," said Jaden. "Those types don't really bother me at all."

Alexis was surprised at his easygoing attitude, which then grew into excitement.

"Besides, I could beat them in one turn!" Jaden continued.

"We're gonna have to work on that overconfidence." commented Syrus.

Alexis couldn't help but laugh as Jaden continued on, going on about how many turns it'd take for him to beat Chazz. Syrus and Rakaia joined in, then Ken, Luna, and Hailey.

"I have to hand it to him, the guy's confident." said Hailey.

"So, who are you?" asked Syrus.

"I'm Hailey, Hailey Ryan. I'm one of Rakaia's friends. This is Luna."

Luna waved to the Slifers politely.

"Nice to meet you, guys." said Syrus. "So, Ken, what happened to you?"

"I got beat up by a crazy chick named Taryn." Ken explained, rubbing the back of her head.

"'Taryn'?" asked Jaden. "Did she have black hair, really long?"

"Her and her friend, Jessi, both. They thought I was a guy, and Taryn whaled on me."

Jaden chuckled sheepishly, causing the others to turn to him.

"Sorry about that." he said. "They're usually harmless. They're my sister and cousin, they're here for the year as part of a student exchange program."

"You guys don't attend the same school?" asked Ken.

"No, our parents are separated. My sister lives with my dad in Illinois, with my aunt, uncle, and cousin, Jessi. Dad enrolled them in another Duel Academy, and they told me how cool it was, so I begged my mom to let me sign up."

"Lucky. Bella's the only one of my sibs who duel."

"My brother and sister are duelists, but my sister's the only one who turned pro," said Rakaia. "Crayus only does underground dueling."

Alexis smiled as the others began to talk about the duelists in their families, then suddenly remembered.

"The Slifer Welcome Dinner's about to start too." she told the others.

Syrus heard a pair of growling stomachs and turned to look at Jaden and Rakaia, who looked down at their stomachs. Dinner sounded good right about now.

"Right, we better go!" said Jaden.

"Totally!" agreed Rakaia.

The Slifers began to take off, then Jaden stopped in his tracks to look at Alexis.

"Oh, sorry, what did you say your name was?" he asked her.

Alexis sent him a smile.

"Alexis Rhodes, and yours?" she asked.

"The name's Jaden!" replied Jaden. "Alright, see ya around, ladies! Bye, Ken!"

"Thanks for not calling me a lady, amigo!" Ken shouted at him. "Mucho apreciado!"

She looked up at the other three girls in the room, and saw them watching the Slifers leave. She smirked at the smiles on their faces, and began pushing them along.

"Let's go, Juliets." the shorter tomboy said.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Alexis shot back.

"I have three sisters, dude, I know what I'm talking about."

* * *

Me: The students have reached their new school, are acquainting themselves with their new dormmates, and almost were engaged in a duel brawl. Chazz has declared war on Jaden, Rakaia, and Ken, but it's obvious that he's gunning for Jaden first. Will Jaden be handed his defeat so soon? Is Chumley right in what he said about the Slifers? Will Rakaia get his pizza day? And will Ken survive her first day at her new high school? All will be revealed...in the future! Where normalcy doesn't really exist, dogs and cats can form better friendships than most humans in the world, and the whole world is crazy as shit. Please review, guys, cookies are still-Wait, what happened to the cookies?!

Bella: *quickly wipes her mouth with the sleeve of her jacket, and walks away, whistling innocently*

Me: *sighs* It's okay, I'll make more.

Hailey Ryan is owned by Peach Wookiee, Luna Tenshi, and Crayus and Rakaia Meiyo are obviously owned by Rakaia The Dragon Duelist, Sega Rivera is owned by Sega herself, Will Rosen is owned by 15animefreak15, Laura is owned by Hyruleepona, Taryn and Jessi Yuki are owned by Dyusu. As for my OCs, Ken, Matt, Kenneth, Chris, Bella, and Ramon, they're owned by me and my Duel Club familia. Don't own the original series part of the plot, but I did tweak with it a bit. The main plot is owned by Kazuki Takahashi and everyone else who helped bring Yu-Gi-Oh! GX into this world. Robot Alchemic Drive is developed by Sandlot, and published by Enix, so I guess they own the game. The Meganite and Volgara cards are being posted up on Deviant Art.


	4. New Rivals

Ch.4- New Rivals-

Later that Night- Obelisk Blue Boys' Dorm-

So, that evening, the students set off to their dorms and the Welcome Dinners began. Dr. Crowler brought the male Obelisks together so they could socialize with one another, and went to meet some of them personally, then stopped to meet a familiar trio from Michigan.

"Hello, hello!" the Ancient Gear duelist greeted. "Having a good time, gentlemen?"

"Yes, sir," responded Kenneth. "Thank you for asking. Are you having a good time?"

"Of course, young man. Thank you. So, I understand you're all from the same state?"

"You bet, we're also from the same dueling club." Chris explained, smiling. "Ramon and I were the latest additions though. Kenneth here invited us."

"Good for you, boys, but it's a shame that your friend turned down the offer to go into the Blue dorm also."

Ramon just shrugged.

"Matt's the kind of guy who likes to earn his place, scholarship or no scholarship," he explained. "Give it time, he'll decide to go into Blue when he gets his fair shot."

"I certainly hope so. Well, I'll leave you to enjoy the rest of your evening. Toodles!"

Ramon and Kenneth watched as the blond-haired teacher went off to talk to the other students, and Ramon quickly leaned to the side slightly.

"What kind of grown man says 'toodles'?" asked Ramon.

"Just roll with it." Kenneth told him.

Ramon nodded, then noticed Chris was staring at someone. A trio of boys in Obelisk Blue uniforms, who appeared to be laughing about something. It was Chazz, Topher, and Conklin.

"What do you suppose those hyenas are laughing about?" asked Ramon.

"I don't know, but it must be some joke." replied Chris.

"Ignore them, let's get some food." Kenneth said, as he walked away.

"I'm game."

Obelisk Blue Girls' Dorm-

"Look at that kid."

"I thought boys weren't allowed in the girls' dorm."

"That girl claims he's her sister though."

Several girls in the room were whispering to each other, while pointing or glancing across the room at Ken, who stood against the wall with Bella. Ken was obviously annoyed about the way the other girls were talking about her, and so was Bella. After all, it wasn't a crime to dress in a way that made you comfortable, right?

"I hate having heightened senses." Ken growled, annoyed. "I can hear all the way over here, and I can smell everyone's freaking perfume."

"Focus on keeping calm, sis," Bella reminded her. "You can't afford to get into anymore fights. You already got sent to juvie."

"Those dimwits were asking for it, and you know it!"

Bella rolled her eyes, irritated. Then they saw Taryn and Jessi walking towards them, with another girl in tow. This new girl had long brown hair that went down to her back, and pale blue eyes, and she wore an Obelisk Blue girl's uniform similar to most of the other girls in the room. The three of them made their way over to Ken and Bella, and struck up a conversation.

"Hey, you feeling a little less sore now?" asked Taryn.

Ken responded to this by pushing Bella in between them.

"Fair enough." Taryn muttered to herself.

"Hey, this is our friend, Laura Kaden." Jessi said, pushing their friend forward.

"Hi, I'm Bella, this is my big sister, Ken." Bella greeted, shaking her hand.

"Nice to meet you." Ken stated, doing the same.

"Likewise, guys." Laura replied, smiling.

A soft clinging on the glass drew the attention of the students to a woman who was standing by the staircase. They all began to gather around to hear what she had to say.

"Welcome to the Obelisk Blue Girls' Dorm, ladies," the woman greeted her students. "My name is Ms. Fonda Fontaine, and I'm in charge of the infirmary, the gym teacher, and the head of this dorm."

Ms. Fontaine was dressed in a long-sleeved mostly white shirt with blue trims, and a pink shirt underneath, with a matching pink skirt, and brown heeled boots. Her short red hair had a long wavy bang that stuck out over the right side of her head beside her gray eyes, and she wore a pair of earrings.

"Now, before we begin with the festivities, I would like to ask for two volunteers for a quick exhibition match." the female teacher continued. "Do we have any brave volunteers?"

A hand shot up, and Ms. Fontaine smiled warmly.

"It seems we have one," she announced. "Alexis Rhodes would like to duel. But who will be her opponent?"

The other girls looked at one another, wondering who was up for taking Alexis on. Alexis stepped forward to join Ms. Fontaine, waiting for her opponent, and it didn't seem like anyone was up for a duel.

"I'll duel her!" a familiar voice announced.

Alexis faced forward, as someone began to move through the crowd, and make their way to the front. She was mildly surprised to see it was Ken, who cracked her knuckles eagerly. Bella made her way through the crowd behind her, and stood beside her surrogate sister.

"And who might you be?" another red-haired girl asked.

"That's my big sister, Ken Warren," Bella stated, proudly. "She's the one who tied in first place for the deck-designing contest a few years back."

This caused the group to break out in a group of murmurs, while Alexis glanced down at Ken, who grinned back at her. Hailey broke through the crowd with Will and Luna behind her, and stood next to Sega.

"Awesome, we get to see the Meganite deck up close and personal!" gasped Luna.

"I heard it was really tough to work with." Hailey mused aloud. "Meganites can't be summoned by normal means, there's always a catch with them."

"We have our match, ladies," announced Ms. Fontaine. "Alexis Rhodes has her opponent, Ken Warren the owner of the Robot Alchemic Drive decks!"

"Who do you think will win?" asked Laura.

"I don't know, but I'm excited." replied Jessi. "To tell you the truth, I kinda want to see if these Meganites are as cool as people say they are."

Elsewhere- Ra Yellow Dorm-

In the Ra Yellow Dorm, the students and their dorm's head were seated around the tables in the dining room. To one, the dining room would remind them of Hogwarts' main hall, the way the place was decorated. Bastion was seated next to Matt, and the two were talking excitedly about what to expect in the school year.

"This place is everything I kinda dreamed of," said Matt. "We weren't allowed to duel much at my old school, and we only got to meet up for club at least twice a week."

"At least you had a duel club to get together with," Bastion admitted, grimly. "Being an egghead isn't all it's cracked up to be."

Matt let out a soft chuckle at the statement, confusing the brainy teenager.

"What you said there, that was kinda funny." he said, smiling. "Never met a lot of geniuses that had a sense of humor."

"Well thank you, Matt," Bastion thanked him. "But to be honest, that was kind of unintended."

They continued eating their dinner, until the Head of the Dorm stood up, tapping the side of his glass with his silverware. The students turned their attention to him, and quieted down.

"Good evening, and welcome to the Ra Yellow dorm, my students," the elderly man greeted, warmly. "I am Prof. Don Sartyr, and I am not only the head of this dorm, I am a professor also, as proven by my title. Is everyone having a good time?"

His question was answered by a slightly loud group of cheers of agreement, which brought a smile to the old man's face.

"Excellent! Excellent!" he exclaimed. "I am happy to hear that! Now, I would like for each of you to stand up and introduce yourselves to your fellow dormmates. Now who would like to start?"

Bastion and Matt raised their hands eagerly, and rose to their feet.

"My name is Bastion Misawa, and I'm from Los Angeles, CA, where I reside with my mother and father," Bastion affirmed, proudly. "I visited Surrey, England from time to time, because of my father's work, and because of his job, we had to move around quite a few times. He was a researcher. My goal in life, well, that's still undecided. Now, I'll give the floor to Matt here."

With that, Bastion sat down, but not before giving a few bows to the applauding audience.

"Okay, uh, hi, my name's Matt Rock, and I'm seventeen years old," Matt began. "I come from Michigan also, and earned a scholarship to attend this school with two of my other friends. I wasn't held back a couple of years, believe me, I was just sick when I was really little, and I don't really wanna talk about the disease. The teachers already know what it is, but they know to respect my privacy, as well as my parents. Also, I like to make comics in my spare time, if you'd like to see them, I'll show them to you sometime."

Like Bastion, he took a few bows, as the students cheered and clapped for him.

"Comics, huh?" said Bastion.

"Based on stuff my friends do." Matt explained. "One of my favorites involves one friend learning the consequences of trying to pry a cup of expresso from her sister."

"That hilarious?"

"They made history class less boring that day."

Slifer Red Dorm- Cafeteria-

Unlike the Obelisks and the Ras, the Slifer Red students' dinner was as terrible-looking as the dorm itself. On the trays were four different dishes, one containing five small cooked fish, some lemon slices in the bowl next to it, some rice, and a bowl of what appeared to be soup, maybe, complete with a set of chopsticks. Most of the Slifers were displeased at the sight of the supposed meal.

"This is our fancy welcome dinner?" one Slifer boy complained.

"Forget that, check out our headmaster!" another Slifer Red student called. "It's a cat!"

The student pointed to the cat, who was asleep on the table nearest the kitchen. It was a very chubby beige-colored cat with dark brown stripes on it's head, arms, legs, back, and tail. The cat woke up for a moment, meowing tiredly, before going back to sleep.

"I'm dropping." another student announced.

A moment after the student spoke, they saw the cat's owner step towards the doorway, and push the curtains out of his way as he made himself known to them. He was a tall, skinny man with long black hair that was tied back in a loose ponytail, his eyes were closed and hidden behind a pair of square-framed wirerimmed glasses, and he wore a white collared, button-up shirt with a red tie loosely tied around his neck, and black pants with black shoes.

"Hello, children, I'm Prof. Banner," he greeted. "Before we eat, I'd like you each to tell us something about your-"

"This stuff's good!" Jaden's voice exclaimed.

The students turned to see Jaden and Rakaia already eating their dinner, while Syrus watched, nervously.

"My compliments to the chef!" Rakaia stated, licking his lips.

"We're supposed to say something about ourselves, guys." Syrus warned them in a hushed tone.

"How about this? 'I'm starving!'" offered Jaden.

Syrus continued to watch as his friends ate away, carelessly. He continued to try and stop them.

"He's walking over here," he whispered. "I mean it, he's right-"

Then he noticed Rakaia stop eating, and then Jaden, after he looked at the dragon duelist. The two of them and Syrus looked up to see Prof. Banner suddenly standing behind them, with an amused smile on his face.

"Well, since some of us don't feel like waiting,..." he started.

Rakaia gulped, looking between Syrus and Jaden nervously. Busted on the first day. Go figure. But to his surprise, he was wrong.

"Let's just eat!" Prof. Banner announced.

Meanwhile- Obelisk Blue Girls' Dorm- Outside-

Alexis and Ken stood in the center of the ring of female Obelisks, and armed their dueldisks. Alexis shuffled her deck, as a red-headed girl and a black-haired girl stood on either side of her. They wore uniforms similar to Alexis, but their hairstyles were the only thing that was different. The girl with red hair had short hair, and the girl with the black hair had long hair that was tied in a ponytail.

"You got this, Lexi." the red-haired girl told Alexis.

"Jasmine's right," the dark-haired girl agreed, looking at Ken. "You're a fantastic duelist! You can't be beat!"

"Appreciate the compliment, Mindy, but this is the first time we've seen the Meganite deck in action here." Alexis reminded them. "If she draws the right cards, she could bring out one of her best monsters in one move."

On the other side of the field, Bella, Hailey, Will, Sega, Luna, Taryn, Jessi, and Laura stood behind Ken, as she stretched her legs out, eagerly.

"You sure you want to do this, Ken?" asked Bella.

"What kind of question's that, sis?" Ken replied, excitedly. "Of course this is what I want! I live for challenges like this!"

She looked up to see Alexis starting to walk forwards, and began doing the same. Bella stepped back to join her friends, and they decided to watch from the side to get a better view, and were met by Jasmine, Mindy, and Ms. Fontaine.

"This is gonna be good!" said Hailey.

"I can't believe I get the chance to see the Meganite deck up close!" Will cried, glancing at Ken.

"Too bad Alexis is going to waste them." Jasmine told her.

"No way, my big sister's robots are gonna dominate this duel!" Bella shot back.

"'Meganites'!" Ken's voice corrected her from the field.

"Whatever!"

"Girls, please..." Ms. Fontaine said, exhasperated.

Back with the two duelists, Alexis stared down Ken, who was barely able to contain her excitement.

"From the looks of it, you look like you're about to explode with excitement." she commented.

"I can't help it, I'm so stoked!" Ken responded, grinning fiercely. "Last chance to back out, I don't like to hold back."

"Likewise."

"DUEL!"

With that, the duel began, and both players' life points were set at 4000.

"Let's begin, shall we?" Alexis called, drawing a card from her deck.

She examined the cards in her hand, along with the card she just drew. Formulating a strategy quickly, she put her new card in her hand, then took another one from it.

"I summon Etoile Cyber in Attack Mode!" Alexis called, placing one card down on her dueldisk.

A woman in a red, white, and gold-trimmed costume danced on the field with her long red hair flying behind her, and the white ribbons on her arms dancing in the air. She had 1200 ATK pts..

"Next, I think I'll place two cards facedown." Alexis continued, sliding two cards in her Spell and Trap Card slot. "That's it for me. Now, show me what you've got."

"After that move, of course I will," Ken agreed, drawing her card. "Since I have no monsters in my hand presently, I better fix that, with my "JSDF's Offer of Assistance" Spell Card!"

She held up the card she drew, allowing her opponent to see what she had.

"This lets me take any number of cards in my hand, and then put them back in my deck," explained Ken. "Then I can take out the same number of monsters to put in my hand."

She selected three cards from her hand, and put them back in her deck, then picked out three other cards and replaced them in her hand, finally shuffling her deck.

"Next I play a Continuous Spell Card called "Meganite's Rising", and it's a very crucial part of my strategy, because you can only bring out Meganites with this card." Ken went on, holding up another card, as it's hologram form appeared on the field. "And finally, I remove the three monsters I just got from my previous Spell Card from play, then bring out Meganite numero uno!"

The three cards in Ken's hand disappeared in a flash of light, and a large tank crashed down on the field. The audience stared at it for a moment. All that excitement for a rusty old tank? However, Ken was not finished yet, as she thrust out her fist.

"Gllang the Castlekeep Meganite, engage Vertical Mode and prepare for combat!" she commanded.

The tank suddenly began giving a deep hum of acknowledgement, and it began to transform from a tank into a giant robot, that was three times taller than Alexis.

"Oh my God." Taryn gasped, her jaw dropping.

"So, that's a Meganite in card form." breathed Hailey.

Alexis and the other girls stared up at the giant robot in amazement, it was indeed huge. Gllang was a massive brown, yellow, and dark gray humanoid robot with large wheels on the sides of his shoulders, and it's mechanical hands were clenched into fists. It was also equipped with 2200 ATK pts..

"I see you're impressed." Ken observed, taking notice of Alexis' shocked expression. "I've met people who have played the game, and still act as surprised."

"Does it really need to be that big though?" asked Alexis.

"A Meganite is a giant robot, Alexis, kind of the point. Now, Gllang, attack! Storm Hammer Deploy and Strike!"

Gllang gave a deep-pitched hum in response, as his left hand retracted into his left arm, then ejected a hammer-like weapon in it's place, then it charged at Alexis' Etoile Cyber, ready to pound it into the ground.

"Not so fast, Ken," shouted Alexis. "I activate a Trap Card! Go, Negate Attack!"

One of her facedown cards flipped face-up, and it repelled Gllang's Storm Hammer from making contact with Etoile Cyber, and it bounced him back. Gllang regained his footing, and raised him left arm, as the Storm Hammer retracted, and was replaced by the left hand once more.

"Blast it all, guess all I can do is set my last card facedown, and leave it at that." said Ken.

She slid a card in the center Spell and Trap Card slot underneath Gllang, and that signaled the end of her turn. Alexis drew a card from her deck, and looked at it. She cracked a smile, and looked over at Ken.

"Sorry, Ken, but I've gotta destroy your big friend over there now," she told her friend. "Because I'm playing Cyber Gymast in Defense Mode!"

A tan-skinned woman with long blond hair dressed in a sleeveless purple top and purple-striped black tights with matching boots emerged onto the field in a flash of light, did a front flip, then landed onto the ground perfectly in a kneeling position with her arms crossed before her. Her long blond hair was tied back in a tight ponytail, and she wore a pair of gauntlets and armbands on each arm that matched her shirt, and a white mask blocked her face from view. Her DEF pts. stood at 1800.

"Alexis, how in the name of Namek are you going to destroy Gllang with her?" asked Ken. "Don't get me wrong, she looks real tough, but she's no Total Defense Shogun. Then again, he's not tough enough to take down my Meganite either."

"But if I send a card from my hand to the Graveyard, I can destroy any Attack Position monster on your side of the field." Alexis explained, as she slid one card into her Graveyard slot. "And I'll send De-Fusion to the Grave in order to do just that. So say goodbye to your buddy!"

Cyber Gymnast's eyes glowed brightly behind the mask, and she leapt into the air with grace, and aimed a kick at the giant robot.

"Lexi's gonna take down a Meganite!" gasped Mindy.

"Au contraire! I've got a facedown card, remember?" Ken reminded the audience. "Go, Revert to Fortress Mode!"

Her facedown card flipped face-up and revealed itself to be a Counter Trap Card. Gllang gave another low hum, and started to transform back into it's tank mode. Cyber Gymnast landed on the ground behind it, and backflipped her way back to Alexis' side of the field. Bella wiped the sweat from her forehead, and let out a sigh she had been holding since Cyber Gymnast prepared to destroy the robot.

"That was too close for comfort." she breathed.

"But now Ken's only got Gllang and that Continuous Spell to protect her." said Jessi. "If Ken doesn't destroy Gymnast on her next turn, she's going to be in trouble."

That was a good point. Bella then looked over at Ken.

"Ken, you've gotta take down that Cyber Gymnast!" she shouted.

"I've got this, Bella!" her sister responded, still keeping her focus.

"She's got this, Jessi!...Wait, how do you have this, Ken?"

"I've got this, Bella!"

The problem was, Ken didn't think she did have this. She had no cards in her hand, and the only thing on her field was Gllang the Castlekeep Meganite. She'd have to make her next move count. However, on the bright side, even if she lost Gllang, Alexis would only deal 1200 pts. of damage with Etoile Cyber, and 800 with Cyber Gymnast. That'd just cut her life points in half. While Ken was thinking up a plan, Alexis took one of her last cards in her hand, and slid it in her Spell and Trap Card slot built into the dueldisk.

"I'll set a facedown, and end my turn there." she announced. "It's your turn, Ken."

Ken looked down at her deck, and gulped.

_"Come on, guys," _she prayed, mentally. _"Give me a card that can help me this turn."_

She shut her eyes tightly, then drew her card, and opened an eye a crack. Her eyes opened fully, and she let out a sigh.

_"It's not a Negate Attack, but I'll take it." _the Meganite duelist thought. _"And it works great with Gllang on the field!"_

"I'll set this card facedown." she spoke up. "And that's all I can do."

"Alright, now it's my turn." Alexis said, as she drew her card. "And I play Pot of Greed!"

A green jar with a very wide and very creepy smile on it's face appeared on the field, and shattered once Alexis drew twice more from her deck. After glancing down at her new cards, she smiled, but it didn't stay for long.

"'Initiate Fortress Defense Mechanisms'!" Ken shouted. "On my mark!"

The Cyber duelist looked up upon hearing her opponent's sudden shout, and saw that Gllang was aiming his cannon straight at her. Alexis gave a nervous chuckle, as she raised her hands in surrender.

"Easy there, Ken." she said, taking a step back. "Let's not be too hasty with that thing. Tell your friend to lower his gun."

Ken opened her backpack and took out an authentic camouflaged army helmet and placed it on her head. Mindy and Jasmine sweatdropped upon seeing this, and they leaned to the side towards Bella.

"What is your weirdo sister doing?" asked Mindy.

"I stopped asking that question in the fifth grade." Bella replied, shaking her head.

"Ready,...aim,..." Ken began, as she raised her arm.

The girls surrounding the duel quickly headed for cover as Alexis and her monsters stood their ground. Then Ken lowered her arm, pointing at the blond-haired female.

"OPEN FIRE!" she commanded.

Gllang fired a shot at Alexis from his cannon, and it struck her, knocking her back a few feet, but she stood her ground well enough not to fall. Alexis gritted her teeth from the impact, and saw that her life points were now at 1000.

"What was that?!" she asked.

"My Trap's effect, while a Meganite is in Defense Mode, it's DEF pts. are dealt to you as damage!" Ken replied, taking off her helmet. "And Gllang's DEF pts. stand at a whopping 3000, but he loses those points after you take the hit. But it could've been worse, it would've been Vavel that could've been on the field. He's got 4000 pts. at his disposal."

Alexis gulped upon hearing that. That _was_ a lucky break.

"Okay, I'm starting to like Gllang now." she admitted. "In fact, I like him so much, I'll trade you for him."

"Trade denied." retorted Ken. "Gllang's _my_ buddy."

"Okay then, I'll just borrow it."

Alexis placed one of her two new cards in her hand, then placed one in her dueldisk, and a hologram version of a Spell card popped up on the field. The card was "Change of Heart**_*_**", and Ken's eyes widened in shock.

"Uh oh." she muttered.

Gllang's eyes flashed from yellow to red as it warped over to Alexis' side of the field, and switched to Attack Mode.

"Oh, this is gonna be painful." said Ken.

"Gllang, attack Ken directly!" Alexis commanded her new monster.

Gllang charged forward, deploying his Storm Hammer weapon, as Ken replaced her helmet on her head. Then the hammer connected with her head, sending her falling facedown onto the ground, and taking 2200 life points from her, bringing her down to 1800. The crowd oohed as Ken' legs twitched every so often, while she laid down on the ground, and little Winged Kuribohs floated around her head, hooting in a high-pitched tone.

"Are you alright, Ken?" asked Jessi.

Ken lifted her head up, dizzily, as he lifted her arm up with her index finger extended.

"Your total comes out to $19.18, please drive up to the next window." she said, in a dazed voice. "Thank you for stopping at Checkers."

"She's okay." said Bella.

"Ken, can you get back up, please?" asked Alexis. "I'd rather not finish the duel while you're down."

"I've got her."

Bella walked forward, and picked her sister up, then signaled the Cyber duelist to finish the duel.

"Guys, attack her directly!" Alexis instructed her own monsters.

Etoile Cyber and Cyber Gymnast dashed over to Ken's side of the field, and landed a kick at her, that knocked her on her back, bringing her life points down to 0, and ending the duel. Ken pushed herself back up in a sitting position, and rubbed the back of her head.

"Gllang, we've gotta have a talk about how much power you put in those punches." she muttered aloud.

She noticed a pair of blue boots standing before her, and looked up to see Alexis in front of her, offering her a hand. Ken took it with a smile, and was pulled back up to her feet, then she shook it. The scene was greeted by a round of applause and the two duelists looked to see their dormmates and instructor clapping and smiling at them.

"That was a wonderful duel, ladies," Ms. Fontaine congradulated them. "What a spectacular performance from you both!"

"Yeah, you two should be proud!" agreed Hailey.

Alexis and Ken looked at each other, and then back at the audience, before taking a bow.

Elsewhere- Slifer Red Dorm- Room 102-

Sometime later that night, after the Welcome Dinners, the students returned to their rooms to prepare for bed and to get ready for their first day of school. Syrus however had finished preparing some tea, and poured some into several mugs that they had. While he did this, Jaden sat down on the floor against the wall, rubbing his stomach with a pleasant expression on his face. Rakaia was going through his cards, editing his deck to prepare himself should he run into a challenge the next day. Or unless one of his new roommates wanted to duel. Whichever came first.

"Aw, I'm stuffed!" Jaden said, smiling happily. "I'll tell ya, Prof. Banner sure can cook!"

"Yeah, that was some awesome chow!" agreed Rakaia.

"Yeah, and he seems like a pretty nice guy as well." Syrus threw in.

He began handing each of his roommates a mug of steaming hot tea, as Jaden agreed with him. When he tried to give some tea to Chumley, he received a rude response.

"Did I say I was thirsty?!" the koala-like boy snapped.

Jaden frowned, seeing Syrus look a little hurt.

"Hey, he just asked if you wanted some tea," he scolded the larger boy. "You don't have to snap at him."

"That's okay, Jaden," Syrus told him. "I'm used to it."

Chumley wasn't finished there though.

"Duh, tea makes you wet the bed." he informed them.

This raised questions in the other three Slifers' heads, as they exchanged mystified glances.

"Do we wanna know?" Syrus whispered to Rakaia.

"I don't, do you?" Rakaia retorted.

"Point taken."

Chumley then tried to correct himself, after hearing their whispers, however he gave up quickly. Luckily for him, he was saved by the ringtone, as Jaden's PDA went off. He removed it from his pocket, and saw that he had received a message. A video message, and it was from Chazz.

"Hey, Slifer Slacker, don't think you're off the hook." the spiky-haired boy started.

"Here we go." muttered Rakaia.

Jaden quickly shushed him, and listened eagerly for the message to continue.

"Midnight, it's on," Chazz informed him. "Oh, and why don't we make it interesting? Winner gets the other guy's best card."

The message then ended, and Jaden looked up from his screen at Rakaia, whose eyebrows furrowed in suspicion. Syrus himself felt this was a bad idea. Jaden, unfortunately, only felt excited at the prospect of a challenge.

"Cool! I guess I'll get to duel at that arena after all!" he said, excited.

Chumley turned in his bed slightly, overhearing the message.

"If that's Chazz you're dueling, all you've got is trouble!" he warned him.

"Chumley's right, Jay." Rakaia agreed. "Why would a fellow student challenge you to a duel at midnight?"

"No time like the present." Jaden said, taking off out the door.

"Aw, man." Syrus moaned, following suit.

That left just Chumley and Rakaia in the room by themselves.

"Aren't you going after them?" asked Chumley.

"I'll get caught up in shenanigans tomorrow." replied Rakaia.

He was about to hit the hay, until he received his own message. The dragon duelist clicked the button, and unlike Jaden's message, no one's face appeared on the other end. And the voice was disguised.

"A challenger is waiting for you in the woods by the Slifer Red dorm." it said. "Be there in five minutes, Dragon Duelist."

The message ended and Rakaia looked up at Chumley.

"Be back in a bit, I guess." he said.

With that, Rakaia grabbed his backpack and deck, and then took off like the wind, closing the door behind him. After walking in the forest for a few minutes, he felt a presence behind him.

"I'm glad you got my message." a slightly deep, and near monotone-like voice spoke.

Rakaia turned to see Zane standing behind him, with a dueldisk strapped to his arm.

"While normally, I wouldn't challenge just any student here, especially a Slifer Red student, you are a special case." said Zane. "Would it be alright if I saw for myself how strong you are?"

Rakaia felt a smile creeping on his face, and removed his backpack so he could take his dueldisk out, and then he strapped it on his arm.

"Now what kind of duelist would I be if I refused a challenge?" he asked.

"That's just the kind of response I wanted to hear." Zane responded, as they activated their dueldisks.

"Duel!"

* * *

So, Alexis faced Ken in a duel, pitting Cyber Girls against the Meganites, which led to her handing Ken her first defeat before the school year began. Meanwhile, Jaden and Rakaia are challenged to a duel themselves, will they end up facing a loss themselves, or will they prevail in their first Duel Academy duels? Find out in Chapter 5! Please review after reading, then pick up your cookies on the way out. Bella hasn't been touching them, I've made sure of it. I made her her own personal batch. I have Ch.5 almost finished, then I will begin Ch.6, I'll update once I'm a few chapters ahead again, guys. 'Til then. Later, mates!

Hailey Ryan is owned by Peach Wookiee, Luna Tenshi, and Crayus and Rakaia Meiyo are obviously owned by Rakaia The Dragon Duelist, Sega Rivera is owned by Sega herself, Will Rosen is owned by 15animefreak15, Laura is owned by Hyruleepona, Taryn and Jessi Yuki are owned by Dyusu. As for my OCs, Ken, Matt, Kenneth, Chris, Bella, and Ramon, they're owned by me and my Duel Club familia. Don't own the original series part of the plot, but I did tweak with it a bit. The main plot is owned by Kazuki Takahashi and everyone else who helped bring Yu-Gi-Oh! GX into this world. Robot Alchemic Drive is developed by Sandlot, and published by Enix, so I guess they own the game. The Meganite and Volgara cards are being posted up on Deviant Art.

**_*_**Yes, I am fully aware Alexis doesn't have a Change of Heart in her deck, but hey, it works. And it provided comic relief, didn't it? It'll be the last time she uses that, unless you guys want to see her pull that little stunt again.


	5. Midnight Duel Madness

Ch.5- Midnight Duel Madness-

Duel Academy- Hallways-

While Rakaia was taking on his challenger, Jaden was heading off to his scheduled duel at the Obelisk Arena, with Syrus following closely behind him.

"I'm not so sure this is a good idea, Jaden." Syrus warned him yet again.

"Good or bad, when someone challenges you to a duel, you gotta step up." Jaden explained to him yet again. "There's no choice."

As the two Slifers drew nearer and nearer to the arena's entrance, Syrus understood that Jaden wasn't planning on backing out. Upon entering, they saw Chazz, Topher, and Conklin inside already.

"Well, well, well, he showed." observed Chazz.

"You better believe it!" said Jaden. "There was no way I was gonna miss this!"

With that, he began walking forward towards the stage, and climbed on as Topher and Conklin hopped off to stand in the sidelines behind Chazz. Syrus took his place in the sidelines behind Jaden, and watched as the two prepared to begin.

"Time to find out if you beating Dr. Crowler was a fluke or a fact." Chazz stated, arming his dueldisk.

"Yeah? Well we're gonna find out something else too!" Jaden added, smiling. "Like which one of the two of us is really gonna be the next King of Games!"

"Yeah, yeah, just make sure you have your best card ready to hand over when you lose."

"You, too. Now game on!"

The two activated their dueldisks, and the duel began with their life points set at 4000. Chazz was the one who kicked things off though.

"Alright, Slacker," he started, as he drew a card from his deck. "For my first move, I'll summon Reborn Zombie in Defense Mode!"

With that, he took another card from his hand and slapped it down on the center slot on his Monster card zone in a sideways position. The hologram form of the monster appeared on the field in the standard defensive position. Reborn Zombie was a monster that lived up to it's name, as it looked like a rotting corpse with barely any clothing, and was losing it's flesh. One could tell by looking at it's skeletal foot that it was definitely not human. It's DEF pts. stood at 1600.

"And I'll also place one card facedown." Chazz finished, slipping one card in the Spell and Trap card slot.

"I guess that's one way to start a duel," Jaden stated. "But I'm gonna go a little bigger."

He drew a card from his deck, then placed it in his hand. His eyes scanned the cards in his hand, and at the end was the Winged Kuriboh. The furry little creature gave a soft hoot of greeting to Jaden, who smiled in response.

"Hey, good to see you, WInged Kuriboh," the E-Hero duelist greeted. "Maybe I'll use you later, but now..."

He placed the card he drew in his hand, then took another card, holding it up for Chazz to see.

"...I'll play Polymerization!" Jaden announced, holding up a pair of other cards from his hand. "Fusing Elemental Heroes Avian and Burstinatrix!"

The two Heroes appeared on the field and leapt into the air. A bright yellow light zoomed around them, enveloping them in a golden flash of light.

"And bringing out Elemental Hero Flame Wingman in Attack Mode!" the Slifer Red student finished.

Said Elemental Hero emerged from the golden light, and stood on the field, ready to take on Chazz, giving a mighty roar as he did so.

"I told you I'd start big, didn't I?" asked Jaden.

Unfortunately for him, Chazz wasn't worried in the slightest. It seemed that Jaden did exactly what he expected him to.

"I was hoping you would." the Obelisk elitist declared.

"Why's that?" asked Jaden.

"Because that card I just played facedown was a Trap, Slacker, that you set off!"

Jaden's eyes narrowed into a glare as a frustrated growl escaped his lips. Chazz looked down at his facedown card, smirking.

"Chthonian Polymer, do your stuff!" he commanded.

Syrus gulped nervously, watching as the card flipped face up, and glowed with an ominous, purple aura. This wasn't good.

"What's Chthonian Polymer's...stuff?" he asked, dreading the answer.

"I had a feeling I'd find you guys here." a feminine voice said.

Syrus turned to see Alexis walking into the arena, her arms crossed over her chest, as she stared up at the duel.

"Chthonian Polymer is a nasty Trap," she explained, drawing closer to the stage. "It allows you to take control of an opponent's Fusion Monster by sacrificing one of your own creatures."

"Oh, no!" Syrus gasped. "Jaden just summoned a Fusion Monster!"

"I sacrifice Reborn Zombie to gain control of your Wingman." declared Chazz.

A portal of bright yellow light appeared from underneath Reborn Zombie, and destroyed it, shattering it completely, then Jaden watched as his own monster was enveloped by a golden light, before being sucked into Chazz's Trap card.

"Aw, my monster..." the Slifer duelist groaned.

A ring of fire appeared in the place where Reborn Zombie was, then the ominous purple aura appeared once more from the center, and Jaden and his friends watched as the aura grew bigger until they could see that Flame Wingman was cloaked in it. The monster rose up from the fiery ring, slumped over as if in a trance, then threw his head back, glaring at his former master with evil red eyes, and now apparently with a mouth full of vicious fangs that showed when he roared at Jaden. He broke free from the aura and stood on Chazz's side of the field. Another difference you could tell from it's previous state was the fact that even his wing seemed demonic.

"How did Chazz know to play that?" Syrus wondered aloud.

"You're so predictable, Jaden!" Chazz called, as if already planning on explaining why he had that card in his deck. "You wouldn't stop talking about that Wingman at the exam, so I knew you'd use him soon!"

Jaden mentally cursed himself for his carelessness, but what happened happened. He'd just have to wing it from there.

"Still since that Wingman was a Special Summon, that means I'm allowed to summon another monster during my turn." he reminded his opponent.

Jaden looked down at his hand, knowing that most of his monsters weren't strong enough to take on his beloved Fusion Monster. Not by themselves anyways. Chazz continued to smirk as he watched Jaden try to come up with a plan.

_"Go on, you Slifer Slacker, play another monster!" _Chazz thought. _"After all, I haven't forgotten the Flame Wingman's superpower."_

As he completed this thought, Jaden picked another card in his hand, and slapped it sideways on his dueldisk.

"Alright, I summon Elemental Hero Clayman in Defense Mode!" he shouted.

A large, gray monster with a round torso and dark gray and beige shoulders, and a smaller, red dome-shaped head emerged onto the field with bulky legs and muscular arms that punched away at the air, before kneeling in front of Jaden in a defensive stance.

"There, all set!" said Jaden.

"Yeah, set up to get knocked down!" Chazz retorted, beginning his turn. "Rise, Chthonian Soldier!"

A fiendish humanoid dressed in dark metallic armor with red eyes and

"And now, Flame Wingman!" Chazz continued, gesturing to said monster. "Attack with Skydive Scorcher!"

The enemy-controlled Elemental Hero flew up in the air, and when enveloped by a fiery aura, charged down at Jaden's Clayman, and destroyed it before returning back to Chazz's side of the field. Jaden raised an arm to shield himself from the shattered remains of his Hero, but it wasn't over yet, because Flame Wingman's ability had yet to take effect. Chazz reminded him of this, and so Flame Wingman flew in front of Jaden, and raised it's dragon-head like hand up to him, and blasted him with fire. Jaden's life points were down to 3200 because of this.

"But don't think for one second that I'm done yet, Slacker," Chazz told his opponent. "Chthonian Soldier, attack! Windstorm Slash!"

The armored soldier sped forward and sliced at the Slifer Red, cutting away 1200 of his life points, leaving him with 2000 remaining. Jaden fell to his knees, clutching at where the monster had struck him.

"Are you starting to know your place here at the Academy yet?" asked Chazz. "Maybe you were somebody back at home, but here in the big leagues, you're nothing but a pathetic, little amateur! Slifer Slime!"

With that being said, he placed one card face down behind Flame Wingman.

"I'll end my turn with a facedown card." the Obelisk student announced. "Go ahead, Slacker!"

Jaden heard him, but did not rise back up yet. Chazz listened close when he heard a noise coming from Jaden, to him it sounded like crying. He couldn't help but smirk, seeing his opponent supposedly crying.

"Aw, what wrong, baby?" Chazz asked, in a mocking tone. "Are you crying?"

Suddenly, the noise began turning into laughter, surprising him. Then Jaden rose back up to his feet, and his laughter got louder, with a grin on his face.

"This is too fun!" Jaden exclaimed, to Chazz's shock. "Just what I came for! Man, I mean, the trash talking, the action! It's all so great!"

"What the...?" Chazz said, confused.

Jaden didn't give him time to complete the thought, as he summoned his next monster to kick off his turn.

"I summon Elemental Hero Sparkman!" he shouted.

A tall man appeared onto the field before Jaden, dressed in blue and golden armor with a pair of cybernetic wing-like accessories on his back. He had 1600 ATK pts. at his disposal.

"Alright, Sparkman, now attack with Static Shockwave!" Jaden commanded his new monster.

Sparkman fired a blast of electricity at the Chthonian Soldier on Chazz's side of the field and soon the fiendish warrior was cooked like Kentucky fried chicken. Chazz lost 400 points from this attack, but then it was Jaden's turn to feel the hurt. From the cloud of smoke, Chthonian Soldier's sword flew high into the air, then as if it was possessed, it turned and swung downward at Jaden and lunged into him, vanishing after connecting with his chest. Jaden grimaced in pain as he lost 400 life points also.

"Still think it's great, Slacker?" asked Chazz. "Because when Chthonian Soldier is destroyed, you receive the same amount of damage to your life points as I do."

He then placed the card in the graveyard before continuing.

"Difference is, you hardly have any to spare!"

With that, Chazz began to laugh.

"Aw, man." Syrus groaned.

"Hang in there." muttered Alexis.

"I swear, I'm gonna get really sick of hearing this joker laugh." a new voice spoke.

Alexis and Syrus turned around to see Ken behind them, looking up at the duel.

"Ken, what are you doing here?!" asked Alexis.

"What are _you_ guys doing here at this hour?" retorted Ken. "I was talking with my buds in the guy's dorm, and they mentioned that Chazz was gonna start trouble with a Slifer. I knew two of them were on his list, and I went to go help."

Back up in the duel, Jaden had just shaken off the attack that was dealt to him, and Chazz was liking the fact that he was beating the guy that had taken down Dr. Crowler.

"It's just a matter of time, Slacker," he announced, clenching one of his hands into a fist. "Your best card's about to be all mine."

"This isn't over yet!" Jaden shot back, placing one card facedown behind Sparkman. "I throw down a facedown!"

"Play what you like, my next attack will finish off your life points!"

Chazz drew his card, then signaled to the Flame Wingman to attack.

"And that attack's comin' right now!" he shouted. "Go, Flame Wingman!"

Flame Wingman began to charge at Jaden, but it seemed the duel wasn't over yet.

"Not so fast," the Slifer announced, as his facedown card flipped face-up. "That was a Trap I just threw!"

"A Trap?!" Chazz repeated, shocked.

"It's Mirror Gate!" Syrus gasped, looking at the card Jaden just played.

"Then Jaden's still in this duel after all." Alexis commented. "Mirror Gate makes two monsters in a battle switch which side they're on."

"Meaning?" Ken pressed on.

"Meaning now that Wingman is back with Jaden."

"Oh, cool."

Sure enough, the two Heroes were enveloped in a flash of light, and warped in each other's positions. Flame Wingman now looked back to his old self, while Sparkman was now enveloped in the dark aura. The two leapt into the air and clashed once again.

"Aw, yeah! Go, Wingman!" yelled Jaden.

Flame Wingman increased his grip on the electrical Elemental Hero, and the Hero became cloaked in electricity. Then within seconds, the monster overloaded and exploded into pixels, taking 500 of Chazz's life points.

"No!" the Obelisk yelled.

He had come so close, taking control of one of Jaden's most powerful monsters, and making it the instrument that would bring about Jaden's defeat.

"And just like you told me a while ago, don't forget my Wingman's superpower!" Jaden reminded his opponent. "You take damage equal to the ATK pts. of your destroyed monster!"

A pulse of electricity shot out of Flame Wingman's hand and struck Chazz, taking away 1600 more life points from his score, leaving him at 1500, as he screamed.

"Alright!" Syrus cheered.

Jaden responded to the cheer with a victory sign.

"Nice moves, Jaden!" Alexis agreed.

_"Now that was too close for comfort." _Ken thought, smirking. _"Now he's starting to get some momentum, now all he needs is the finisher, and he's homefree, and the dingus' ego gets taken down a few pegs."_

Chazz glared at Jaden, watching as he smiled victoriously at gaining an advantage over him.

"More like 'lucky moves' if you ask me, you Slifer school scum!" the Obelisk student spat.

He took another card from his hand, and raised it up for Jaden and his friends to see.

"Uh oh." Ken gulped, grimacing at the card.

"'Uh oh' what?" asked Syrus. "What does that card do?"

"You'll find out."

"I activate Chthonian Blast!" Chazz shouted, as the card began to activate. "Now since you destroyed one of my monsters, I can destroy one of yours. And you take damage equal to half of it's ATK pts.."

"Oh." Syrus spoke.

"Yep, told you." Ken responded, with a shrug.

Jaden watched as the Flame Wingman was destroyed after a small whirlwind kicked up from beneath him, and raised an arm to shield himself from the pixels flying around the field. His life points then dropped to 550.

"Now I activate the Trap card Call of the Haunted!" announced Chazz. "It lets me select one Monster card from my graveyard and summon it back to the field in Attack Mode! Rise, Infernal Warrior!"

Chthonian Soldier appeared onto the field in a flash of light, growling with rage as it glared at Jaden. However, the monster was still glowing, indicating that his master wasn't done yet.

"But he won't be staying on the field for long," Chazz told the audience. "Because I'm going to sacrifice him to summon Mefist the Infernal General!"

A cloaked figure dressed in a black and gold-trimmed armor, with crimson accessories, demonic claws, and a pale yellow ribbon trailing behind him, sat on a horned, demonic-looking horse with a long tail behind it. In his claw was a polearm axe, and he had 1800 ATK pts.. Jaden couldn't help but compliment his opponent out of good sportsmanship.

"Not bad." he simply stated.

"'Not bad'?" Chazz repeated, surprised a little. "You're something else, Slacker, you know that? Acting all confident, but your lousy Monsters won't get you out of this jam."

Jaden looked down at his hand, which only consisted of the Winged Kuriboh. The tiny furball hooted at him, and Jaden smiled at him.

"I know he's wrong, Kuriboh." he agreed.

Winged Kuriboh winked at him from the card, as it hooted at him again.

"Because Chazz doesn't know, that my monsters and I, we have a bond." Jaden went on.

He then drew his card and looked at it, his eyes lighting up.

_"Speaking of..." _he thought.

As he did this, Ken's eyes narrowed slightly as she turned to look at the door.

"I hate to interrupt this duel, compadre," she muttered, nudging Alexis in the ribs. "But we're about to have a situation."

"What do you mean?" asked Alexis.

She then began to hear footsteps. Soft footsteps, and turned back to the duelists.

"Uh, guys!" the blond-haired female alerted them. "We've got company! Campus security!"

Ken's expression turned into one of dread.

"Oh, crap!" she yelped. "THat's security?!"

"Yeah, and if they find us all in here, we'll get seriously busted!" Alexis explained to her.

"Double crap. We need to bolt then, like pronto!"

"Why?" asked Jaden. "I mean, we're all students here."

Alexis reached into her pocket and took out her PDA, shooting him a stern glare.

"The rules say 'no off-hour arena duels'!" she explained. "Chazz knows that, but let me guess, he didn't tell you?"

Ken then turned to glare at him.

"Is that a fact?" she said, angrily.

Topher moved forward to urge Chazz to leave, and Chazz began to do so.

"Well well, Slacker, looks like you lucked out this time." he declared.

"What're you talking about?" asked Jaden. "The match isn't over!"

"Yeah it is, I've seen what I came here to see. You're a sorry duelist. You beating Dr. Crowler was just a fluke."

He headed off out of the other exit, while Syrus, Alexis, and Ken were left with trying to get Jaden to leave before they all got caught.

Meanwhile- Woods-

Rakaia watched in total shock as his Red Eyes Black Dragon was destroyed instantly by Zane's three-headed monster, and fell to the ground on all fours. His life points went from 4000 to 0 instantly, while Zane still had a full 4000.

"One turn," the dragon duelist spoke in a shaky voice. "He beat me in just one turn."

Rakaia looked up to see Zane deactivating his dueldisk, and walking towards him.

_"Man, that combo was amazing." _he thought. _"Jaden was good, but this guy is extremely tough."_

Zane stopped in front of him, interrupting his train of thought, then held out his hand for Rakaia to take. Rakaia took it, and Zane helped him up, and shook hands with him.

"Come back to challenge me when you're at your A game." the tall Obelisk student spoke.

Rakaia looked at him, confused, and watched as he left.

_"My 'A game'?"_ he wondered. _"I thought I was dueling at my best."_

Back at the Duel Academy-

Syrus and Ken had finally managed to push Jaden out of the arena, and drag him back outside to the front of the Academy. Alexis followed after them, and the group stopped several feet from the door.

"You certainly are stubborn, Jaden." commented Alexis.

Jaden was obviously still sore about having to leave when the match was just getting good.

"Only about my dueling." he retorted.

Syrus grinned sheepishly up at Alexis, thinking it'd be wise to thank her for her help. She did after all help them find a safe way out without alerting security.

"Thanks for showing us the back way out." he said, smiling.

"Sure." Alexis replied, looking at them. "I'm sorry you didn't get to finish your match with Chazz."

Jaden's pouting turned into a smile of confidence instantly.

"It's okay, I know just how it would've ended anyway." he reassured his friends.

"Seriously?" asked Ken.

"Ken's right." agreed Alexis.

Jaden looked at her, his smile disappearing, as she went on.

"No offense, but from my point of view, and I'm guessing her's too, it looked like it could've gone either way between you and Chazz when you guys stopped."

"No way!" Jaden replied, his smile returning. "Not after I drew this!"

He held up the drawn card that he had been holding since his turn, before the duel was interrupted, and turned it to show his friends. It was Monster Reborn. Alexis, Syrus, and Ken stared at the card, and realized that he could've easily brought back the Flame Wingman, and had him attack and destroy Mefist the Infernal General, thus wiping out the rest of Chazz's life points, as well as the smirk off of Chazz's face. Jaden then turned to walk away.

"See ya." he said, walking away.

Syrus immediately chased after him, with Alexis and Ken watching them.

_"This is gonna be one interesting year." _thought Alexis.

"Hey!" Ken spoke up.

Alexis turned to her, and saw Ken was now walking back towards the girls' dorm.

"We've gotta be heading back also." the shorter teen reminded her.

"And how do we get back in?" asked Alexis. "The doors are probably locked."

Ken dug into her backpack and took out a grappling hook and a rope.

"Ken, why do you have that?" Alexis asked in a tone that indicated uneasiness.

"I nicked it from Shawn, my older brother." Ken explained, replacing the items in her backpack.

"Ken, this could be the beginning of a very weird friendship."

"I can't tell you how many of my friends told me that."

* * *

So, Jaden's duel with Chazz ended in a draw, I suppose, and Rakaia was swiftly defeated in a single turn. The reason for not showing the duel will be revealed later on. Please continue to review, people, I know I'm getting a crapload of views, so please don't be afraid to comment on what you thought of the story so far. No flames are allowed though, and good reviewers will still get cookies. Provided my little sis stops eating them! Also, there are still two slots open for new OCs if you're interested. I need them before we get to the 8th chapter.

Hailey Ryan is owned by Peach Wookiee, Luna Tenshi, and Crayus and Rakaia Meiyo are obviously owned by Rakaia The Dragon Duelist, Sega Rivera is owned by Sega herself, Will Rosen is owned by 15animefreak15, Laura is owned by Hyruleepona, Taryn and Jessi Yuki are owned by Dyusu. As for my OCs, Ken, Matt, Kenneth, Chris, Bella, and Ramon, they're owned by me and my Duel Club familia. Don't own the original series part of the plot, but I did tweak with it a bit. The main plot is owned by Kazuki Takahashi and everyone else who helped bring Yu-Gi-Oh! GX into this world. Robot Alchemic Drive is developed by Sandlot, and published by Enix, so I guess they own the game. The Meganite and Volgara cards are being posted up on Deviant Art.


	6. The School Year Begins

Ch.6- The School Year Begins-

Early the Following Morning- Slifer Red Dorm-

The alarm clock went off, and a small hand scrambled out from under the covers to shut it off. It took a few minutes, until the hand finally found the small device and deactivated it, then pulled the covers from it's owner's face, revealing it to be Syrus. Syrus rubbed at his eyelids, and climbed out of his bunk to pick up his glasses that were seated on the desk on the opposite side of the room. He put them on and turned around to wake Jaden up, who was still fast asleep in his bed like Chumley.

"Jay," the shorter boy called, tiredly. "Get up. It's the first day of school."

"Five more minutes." mumbled Jaden.

Syrus sighed, and turned to grab something out of the drawer. He took out an air horn and a roll of duct tape, then headed for the door, and opened it, before exiting.

"I knew I was going to need this." he told himself, as he started tearing off the tape from the roll.

He pressed the button on the horn, which caused the device to start blaring loudly, and the now fully-awakened Syrus quickly applied the tape to it so it'd stay blaring. He then opened the door widely, and reared back his arm that was holding the air horn.

"Here goes...!" he said.

Syrus chucked the horn inside and closed the door immediately afterwards. On the other side of the room, you could hear a pair of panicked shouts mixed in with the horn, and some crashing sounds following afterwards. Syrus cracked a small smile, and gave it another minute for his roommates to wake up, and turned to see Rakaia walking up the steps with four coffees in a carrier resting in his hand.

"Good mornin', roomie." he greeted, good-naturedly, as he handed Syrus a coffee. "What's going on?"

"Just doing my fair share." Syrus replied, taking a sip of the coffee. "When did you get up?"

"Couldn't sleep. Too excited."

Syrus watched Rakaia take a big gulp of his coffee, and stared, confused.

"So excited that you went off on a nighttime stroll?" he asked.

Rakaia looked down at him, with a raised eyebrow.

"You sure you're not nervous?" Syrus pressed on.

Rakaia looked away from him, staring deeply into his beverage. He had indeed went off a few hours earlier, just by the cliffs, but only to clear his head. The school year had only just begun, and he already suffered a loss. Zane was one powerful duelist, and it left him with mixed emotions. While Rakaia was upset with the loss, it excited him. His thirst to become a better duelist grew, and he vowed to challenge the Obelisk once more after he got a little stronger.

"Rakaia?" Syrus called. "Earth to Rakaia!"

Rakaia snapped out of his reverie and looked over at Syrus, who opened the door to their dormroom.

"We've gotta get ready." the blue-haired boy reminded him.

"Right, sorry." the dragon duelist replied.

Meanwhile- Obelisk Blue Girls' Dorm-

Ken sat at her desk, glancing down at the cards in her deck, and frowned. It appeared that the loss Alexis handed her last night was eating away at her too.

_"It wasn't bad luck, Ken, just a matter of time." _she told herself mentally. _"You can't win every duel you're in with these. The Meganites may be super tough, but there are people who have their decks equipped with cards that can counter them."_

"Ken?" a voice called.

Ken turned around in her chair slightly to see Bella walking into her room, and closing the door behind her. She looked a bit tired still, but showed signs of worry.

"It's time to get going." she told her sister. "Why aren't you dressed yet?"

"Just going over my deck." Ken replied, with a slight grin.

Bella drew closer to her and grabbed the black clad teen's cards, then placed them in her deckbox. She then looked down at Ken.

"You can make alterations in class, sis," she scolded her. "Get your butt up and moving, we leave for school in a half an hour."

"Yes, ma'am." responded Ken.

"Good. Now, get moving. There's a full one-liter bottle of Coke with your name on it if you're on time."

With that, she left, and Ken breathed a heavy sigh and began getting ready.

A while later- Duel Academy- Classroom-

"Duel monster cards can be grouped into Normal Monster cards, Fusion Monster cards, Ritual Monster cards, Effect Monster cards, Trap cards, and Spell cards." explained Alexis. "Trap cards can be divided into Normal Traps, Counter Traps, and Continuous Traps. Spell cards can be separated into Normal Spells, Continuous Spells, Equip Spells, Quick-Play Spells, Ritual Spells, and Field Spells."

"Perfect!" Dr. Crowler practically sang, happily, clapping his hands together. "Well done, Alexis!"

He glanced happily up at his student, who was standing in front of her seat, giving an answer to a question he had just asked her. The students soon began to learn that Dr. Crowler favored his Obelisk Blue students more than the Ra Yellows and Slifer Reds.

"Of course, I wouldn't expect anything less from one of my Blue Obelisks." the doctor added.

See what I mean? Favoritism. Right, interrupting the story. Sorry.

"Yes, Dr. Crowler." Alexis responded, taking her seat.

_"Kinda wish he wouldn't do that." _she thought, a little annoyed.

"Now then, let's see who we should question next." Dr. Crowler said, looking at his attendance list. "Ah, yes, Mr. Dawson!"

Kenneth looked up, hearing his name being called, rose to his feet.

"Sir?" he responded at once.

"Name two Effect Monsters whose effects mimic Field Spells." Dr. Crowler told him.

"Maiden of the Sea and Gravekeeper's Priestess, sir."

"Very good, Mr. Dawson! Well done!"

Kenneth gave a curt nod before taking his seat between Ramon and Chris once more. Then Dr. Crowler scanned the crowd again, looking for another volunteer. Then his eyes fell on Syrus, and he cracked a smile.

"You! Syrus Truesdale!"

Syrus' demeaner quickly changed from calm to nervous as he now rose to his feet. The Ancient Gear duelist walked over to the side to stand precisely a few feet precisely from where Syrus was standing.

"Explain to the class what a Field Spell is, please." the doctor instructed the small teen.

One could tell he knew full well how easily nervous Syrus could get when called on the spot, as he continued to smile while Syrus struggled to come up with an answer. The longer it took for Syrus to form a sentence, the more the Obelisks and Ras ridiculed him. Well, most of them, since the laughter and the mocking from most of the Obelisks started to get to Syrus' friends. In the clutter of Obelisk students, Ramon shook his head angrily at the ridiculous behavior that occured in the classroom.

"I've seen more maturity in an elementary school." he muttered to his friends, disgusted.

"Seriously, what's so funny about a guy getting a little nervous about being put on the spot like that?" Chris asked, looking around the classroom, fuming.

A few rows down, Ken's right eyebrow twitched angrily, as the mocking laughter continued, then she handed Bella her headphones.

"Hold my tunes, sis," she said. "I'm goin' in."

Bella replied to this declaration by grabbing her fisthappy older sister by the collar and keeping her in her seat. Hailey, who was sitting on Bella's left, glanced sadly down at Syrus, who was feeling even more humiliated by the passing second.

"That's seriously uncalled for." her friend, Will, commented. "How low can you get? And he's encouraging them."

"I hope this class ends soon."

Meanwhile, back down at the bottom of the classroom, Dr. Crowler told Syrus to take his seat, not even bothering to let him even give a wrong answer.

"Now, would someone please give me the answer?" the teacher asked. "Preferably someone not wearing red, thank you."

Most of the class erupted into laughter again, making Syrus sink into his seat a little. He felt really bad before about trying to answer the question in front of scores of students his age, but now he felt he had made the Slifer Red's rep even worse.

"I blew it." the blue-haired boy groaned, miserably. "I made all the Slifers look bad."

"You know somethin', teach?" Jaden asked, smiling. "You really shouldn't go and make fun of us Slifers like that."

Dr. Crowler looked down at him, taken aback.

"I mean I'm a Slifer, and I beat you." Jaden pointed out. "So when you make fun of us, you're really making fun of yourself."

Rakaia cringed from the verbal sucker punch that Jaden just dealt their professor.

"Ooh, that's gotta smart." he muttered, grinning.

As Dr. Crowler clenched his teeth together on a hankerchief, tugging at out of rage, Jaden flashed a victory sign around to his fellow Slifers as they laughed at the teacher. Several rows above him, Alexis smiled down at the brave action the Slifer had just performed for his friend. It was indeed a kind gesture, but he may have signed his death warrant, figuratively speaking of course. Jaden would soon find himself paying for that shot, as Dr. Crowler tried to quell his rage, while secretly plotting to himself.

_"That's it! I will not tolerate this slacker at my school for another second!" _he thought, angrily. _"I'll see to it he's taken down!"_

He finally calmed down and replaced his hankerchief into his pocket, then cleared his throat, causing the students to quiet down.

"Now, I'll let one of my Obelisk Blue students complete the question I had set for Mr. Truesdale." announced Dr. Crowler. "Warren!"

Ken looked down at him, raising an eyebrow.

"Please answer the question." the instructor told her.

Before Ken could open her mouth to respond, a folded up note slid her way, and Ken covertly read it, then smiled deviously, before looking down at Dr. Crowler.

"Answer what question?" she asked.

"The question I asked Syrus just moments ago." Dr. Crowler stated.

"Which was what?"

Dr. Crowler stared at her for a moment, taken aback.

"I asked him what a Field Spell was." he reminded her.

"No you didn't." Ken told him.

"Yes, I did."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!"

"I'm not believing ya, doc."

As the two argued, Bella took a look at the note that Ken was given.

"'How good are you at distractions? Alexis'?" she read in a low voice.

Bella casually turned to look up at Alexis, who gave a slight gesture that meant "keep quiet". Shooting her a wink of agreement, Bella nodded and turned back to watch the argument commence.

"I'm telling you, I asked that question just moments ago!" Dr. Crowler practically screamed, gripping the sides of his head.

"Asked what now?" Ken asked, folding her hands behind her head.

"Okay, now I know you're just messing with me!"

"Hey, doc?"

"What?!"

"I have the answer to the question you just asked."

"Then tell me!"

"Tell you what?"

Dr. Crowler let out a frustrated scream and charged out of the classroom.

"I'm starting to see why Jonathan got such a kick out of doing this." Ken told Bella, a growing smirk on her face. "This is awesome!"

She then rose up in her seat to look down at Rakaia.

"Yo, Firebreather!" she called. "You take the next one!"

Rakaia shot her a thumbs-up, and turned back in his seat as Dr. Crowler came back into the room.

"Okay, I'm calm. I'm calm." he assured his classmates. "Ms. Warren, your paraprofessional said for you to behave yourself, or you're under dorm arrest with no electronics for a week."

"Absolutely," Ken replied, cheerfully. "Field Spells are cards of various purposes, which can either help you or hinder you. You can only have one on the field, unless you have one facedown on the field. They're like Continuous Spells in a way because of this."

"Now was that so hard?"

Ken was about to retort with a snark, but a glare from Dr. Crowler made her reconsider, and she sat back down in her seat. As Bella patted her fuming sister on the back, Dr. Crowler began looking for another victim, er, volunteer. Then he saw Rakaia doodling in his notebook, and walked over to him.

"Rakaia Meiyo!" the teacher called.

"Yes, sir?" the dragon duelist replied, looking up at him.

"Give me two different kinds of Field Spells, and tell me what makes them so different."

"Of course, sir, but can you answer one of my questions?"

"Fine, fine. What is it?"

Rakaia then leapt back in his seat, appearing to look very frightened.

"WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE?!" he shouted.

The sudden shout caused Dr. Crowler to fall backwards onto the ground, startled.

"Uh, Rakaia?" Jaden said, as he and Syrus looked at him.

"WHERE AM I?!" Rakaia continued to scream.

The students watched, bewildered at Rakaia's sudden lack of sanity, as Dr. Crowler tried to calm him down.

"What is he doing?" asked Bella.

"Killing time." explained Sega. "He's done this a dozen times back in junior high. It's how we managed to get through a boring class without homework."

As if on cue, the bell rang, and the students got out of their seats.

"Works every time." Luna muttered under her breath.

Dr. Crowler watched as the students piled out of the room, and growled to himself.

_"It seems that Jaden Yuki isn't the only one who needs to be put in his place," _he thought. _"That other slacker and that video game-addicted delinquent are in need of being taught a lesson also."_

A couple of hours later- Classroom-

The next class took place a few ways off from where Dr. Crowler's class was, and Prof. Banner, the head of Slifer Red, was teaching the class. Unlike the previous instructor, he wasn't a favoritist. He treated all of his students equally.

"So, as some of you students know, my name is Prof. Lyman Banner," Prof. Banner greeted his students. "I specialize in some of the lesser known tactics and strategies in the world of Duel Monsters. Some that a few might even consider to be unnatural."

In the bottom row where the Slifers were sitting, Jaden let out a yawn, feeling a bit drowsy. He appeared ready to doze off at any second, until Syrus turned to him.

"Oh, by the way, thanks, Jaden." he whispered to him.

"Sure, no prob." Jaden replied, tiredly. "For what?"

Syrus blinked, confused. Had Jaden forgotten that quickly?

"Sticking up for me." the small teen responded.

The classroom now turned completely silent, and Jaden was quick to pick up on that.

"Uh oh, I'm thinking that I might have to do it again in a second." he spoke, facing forward.

"Syrus!" Prof. Banner called.

Syrus faced forward also, rising out of his seat, nervously. Apparently he had whispered a little too loudly.

"Yeah?" he responded.

It was obvious that he was worried about being humiliated like in the previous class, but Prof. Banner instead smiled at him.

"Do me a favor and grab Pharaoh, would you?" he asked, kindly.

This threw the young student for a loop.

"Uh, Pharaoh?" Syrus repeated.

Jaden turned to his right to look at Rakaia, who shrugged back at him, confused.

"Unless you're minoring as a scratchpost." Prof. Banner continued.

The students then heard a meow, and Syrus, Jaden, and Rakaia looked down at the floor, where the cat from the Slifer dorm was sitting. It nuzzled up lovingly against Syrus' leg, looking up at him, as the students laughed.

"He doesn't scratch or bite does he?" asked Syrus.

"No, he's very harmless, and quite cuddly." replied Prof. Banner. "Just be careful on how you handle him though."

Syrus nodded and gently picked up the cat in his arms, then made his way to the professor. A few rows above them, Hailey gave a soft sigh of relief.

"Thank God not all of the teachers here are as cruel as Crowler." she whispered softly.

"You're telling me." said Bella. "I could barely control my sister in the last class, this time she would've gotten loose."

"Yeah."

That was when Hailey noticed that her sister wasn't even in the room.

"Uh, Bella?" she called her friend.

"Yes?" replied Bella.

"Where is your sister?"

Sometime Later- Hallways-

"We need a map to get through this school." said Matt. "All these classrooms look the same."

"A map?" Ken asked, looking up at him. "Dude, we'd need Instant Transmission. We'd never be late for class, we'd always beat the crowd to places-"

Matt then stopped and turned to her.

"And what would've happened if he teleported in the same exact place at the same exact time?" he asked.

"...You never saw the Return of Cooler, have you?" asked Ken.

Matt put a hand to his face and groaned, then they continued on their way to class. Meanwhile, a few ways down from where they were, inside a room was Dr. Crowler, who was sitting at his desk. In front of him was an old fashioned stationary, complete with a quill pen and ink, and it appeared that he was scribbling something down on a piece of paper.

"How dare that Slifer Slacker Jaden make a mockery of me in front of my class like that!" he muttered to himself. "It'll be the last mistake he makes at this Academy..."

He set the note and pen aside, then picked up a mirror and a tube of red lipstick. Meanwhile, outside the room, Matt and Ken were walking down the hall, continuing their conversation about teleportation. And it appeared that Matt was losing.

"I'm telling you, Matt, there'd be no worry of being telefragged when using Instant Transmission!" argued Ken. "The users of Instant Transmission are placed in a pocket dimension, and you can see other people who are in it, and attack them there, too. But you can only be in that little dimension for a brief period of time."

"Where are you getting these rules from?" asked Matt.

"I looked it up."

Matt opened his mouth to say something, then he stopped, remembering something.

"Crap, forgot my bag back at Sheppard's office," he said. "Tell Prof. Banner that I'll be just a couple more minutes late, okay?"

"Sure thing, dude." Ken replied. "See you in a bit."

She watched Matt take off the other way, and continued on down the hall, until she stopped by Dr. Crowler's office, and cast a casual glance inside the room. Immediately when she did so, she stopped in her tracks, staring at her teacher and what he was doing. He was applying lipstick on his face, and then kissed the back of an envelope. Dr. Crowler then felt a presence nearby, and turned to see Ken staring at him, with a mystified glance.

"You know, this isn't the weirdest thing I've ever seen." the Meganite duelist told him. "And believe me, I have many, many stories about my sisters and brother and their misdeeds."

Dr. Crowler just blinked, stunned that he was caught. Not only wearing red lipstick, but also kissing the back of a love letter, and this would bring up a lot of questions. Not to mention the fact that he just gave her ammo for blackmail.

"Let's deal, because I'd rather avoid hate crimes," offered Ken. "We never speak of this again, as long as you keep your door closed and locked, agreed?"

Dr. Crowler nodded, still off-guard. Ken then continued on her way, whistling the Dragon Quest Overture as she walked down the hallway. Dr. Crowler watched to make sure he'd receive no more visitors, and closed and locked his door.

"Now, what to do about that little gamer geek and the dragon boy?" he muttered aloud.

He looked through his files, and took out a pair of files. His beady little eyes skimmed through them, and a wide grin crossed his face.

Later on- Gym Class- Boys' Side-

A group of male students stood grouped together in the center of the gym, waiting for their teacher to show up. Among those students were Jaden, Rakaia, Bastion, Matt, Chris, Kenneth, Ramon, Chazz, Topher, and Conklin, but Syrus was nowhere to be found. Jaden was quick to notice this, and was worried.

"Huh, I wonder where Sy is..." he wondered aloud.

He heard a faint hiss behind him, and felt a hand nudging his arm. Jaden turned to see Ramon trying to get his attention.

"Hey, uh, nice job on defending your friend back there." he whispered. "Crowler was out of line there."

"It was no biggie." Jaden told him. "Nice to know not all of you Obelisks aren't so bad. You're the third Obelisk I've met that isn't a jerk."

"Discrimination, even the social kind, bites. I'm Ramon Rollins, these guys are my pals, Kenneth and Chris."

The two other boys on either side of him nodded at him and waved. Jaden waved back, and saw Bastion standing a few inches away from them, talking with Matt.

"Hey, Bastion." he greeted.

"Hello, Jaden." Bastion responded, politely. "Matt, this is my friend, Jaden. We met at the exams."

Matt stepped forward to shake his hand and introduce himself to Jaden and then to Rakaia, and started up a conversation with them. While that was going on, Dr. Crowler was sneaking around the boys' locker room, looking for Jaden's locker. The plan was that he'd plant the note in his locker, and then wait for Jaden to find it. The only problem was, which one was his locker? After searching four lockers, the Ancient Gear professor finally succeeded on the fifth one when he found Jaden's shoes inside. He set the note on top of the school-issued sneakers, and smiled to himself.

"Now onto the second person of interest." Dr. Crowler said to himself. "Where the dragon duelist gets slayed."

He took off, laughing maniacally, and seconds afterwards, Syrus emerged into the room, looking flustered.

"Lousy girls' gym!" he groaned, hurrying to take off his sneakers. "They should make the sign bigger!"

He opened the door to his locker and saw a pair of shoes already inside. Jaden's shoes.

"Guess he's still borrowing my locker." sighed Syrus.

He knelt down to remove the sneakers, and the note Dr. Crowler placed on them fell onto the floor. The blue-haired boy picked it up and saw the kiss mark on the back of it.

"But this isn't Jaden's!" he yelped.

After quickly checking to see if anyone was looking, he stood up and walked over to a spot where he could read the contents of the envelope privately.

"Someone wrote me a letter?" he spoke to himself. "I wonder what it says."

He opened the letter carefully, and began reading it in a low voice.

"'Since the moment I first saw you, I've been...in love with you'?!"

Pausing to regain his composure briefly, he continued to read.

"'Meet me tonight behind the girls' dorm,'" he said, carefully reading it. "'Endearingly, Alexis Rhodes'?!"

He stumbled back, completely caught off-guard, and fell backwards onto the floor.

"Oh, boy," muttered Syrus. "This sure is a lot better than what my mom usually writes me..."

**(Enter daydream sequence)**

"Syrus!"

"Alexis!"

The two teens ran towards each other in a field of flowers, their arms outstretched, and happy, blissful smiles on their faces. They were laughing happily as they drew closer, and when they finally reached each other, they held hands.

"Please be mine..." Alexis said, her eyes shining.

**(End daydream sequence)**

"Oh, I'm yours..." Syrus sighed, happily.

Unknown to him, Rakaia was watching the scene, and slowly backed out of the locker room, then made his way back into the gym, where Jaden and the rest of their male friends were waiting.

"So, did you find him?" asked Jaden.

"Yeah, he'll be here in a few seconds." Rakaia replied, rubbing the back of his head.

_"More like a few hours, judging from the goofy smile on his face." _he added in his head.

Much later into the night- Slifer Red Dorm-

Jaden entered his room, rubbing his hair dry with a small towel.

"Hey, Sy, the outhouse is all yours if you want it," he announced. "I'm do-"

"Sy's gonzo." Chumley's voice told him.

Jaden stopped rubbing the towel against his head, and looked up at his roommate.

"Yeah, he just left, and he was in a real good mood too." Chumley finished explaining.

"A good mood?" Jaden repeated.

He took a seat down on the stool, thinking it over.

"That really doesn't sound like Syrus." he mused.

The door opened once again, and Rakaia started handing out cans of soda to his roommates.

"Get your soda, guys!" he called. "Fresh soda in a can!"

"Thanks, Rakaia." said Jaden.

"Yeah, just what the doctor ordered." Chumley agreed, opening his can of soda.

Rakaia then noticed that Syrus was nowhere to be found in the room, and turned to Jaden.

"Hey, where's Syrus?" the dragon duelist asked.

"He took off somewhere." replied Jaden. "Chum said he was in a really great mood about something."

Rakaia shrugged, not thinking much of it, and sat down at the desk.

_"Huh, Sy in a great mood. That is great." _he thought, a pleasant smile on his face. _"Must've been that love letter thing."_

Then his expression fell apart like a ton of bricks.

_"No, he wouldn't!"_ he screamed, mentally. _"Would he?!"_

Rakaia rose to his feet calmly, and walked out of the room, excusing himself to the bathroom. Once he was down the steps, he took off into the forest, and whipped out his PDA, making a call to Syrus. Syrus' face appeared on the video chat, and he was smiling.

"Oh, hey, Rakaia!" he greeted.

"Sy, where are you?" asked Rakaia.

Syrus looked a little nervous now, and rubbed the back of his head.

"You promise not to tell Jaden or Chumley?" he asked.

After thinking it over for a moment, Rakaia agreed. Syrus explained that he had gotten a love letter from Alexis, and was called to the Obelisk Blue girls' dorm. He hung up before Rakaia had a chance to ask anything else.

"Okay, who do I know is awake and not busy with anything at this time?" Rakaia asked himself.

After a moment of thinking, he looked back at his PDA.

"Well, two people come to mind at that dorm." he muttered.

Obelisk Blue Girls' Dorm-

Alexis sat on the couch, across from Ken and Hailey, all three reading from a stack of comics and manga that Will, Sega, Luna, Ken, and Bella owned. Alexis was reading a Yu Yu Hakusho manga, while Hailey and Ken were reading Sonic the Hedgehog comics.

"So, let me get this straight, this old lady can change her cells with her energy, and make herself young again?" asked Alexis.

"That's about the size of it." Ken answered, nonchalantly.

"Ken, can you pass me the next issue?" asked Hailey.

Ken nodded and took another comic book off of the stack, then handed it to Hailey, who handed her the comic she had finished reading. Then Mindy and Jasmine walked over to them, and looked at Alexis.

"Hey, Alexis," greeted Jasmine. "Wanna chill out in the Obelisk wading pool?"

"No thanks." replied Alexis. "We'll wade, and the guys will rage. I'm not in the mood for a game of Tackle Marco Polo."

Ken looked over at Hailey confused.

"What's Tackle Marco Polo?" she asked.

"You're not serious." Mindy said, staring at Ken.

"Me and my big mouth."

"It's not like it matters," Jasmine told her friends. "It's the girls' dorm. No guys allowed."

Alexis thought it over for a moment, then after a bit more convincing from her two friends, she stood up, handed Hailey the manga she was reading, and headed to the pool with Mindy and Jasmine. Then Will, Bella, and Luna arrived downstairs also, and looked over at them.

"Hey, guys, you wanna go for a swim?" asked Will.

"No thanks, I'm about to go double-check my homework, then get to bed, after I finish these last few comics." Hailey replied, holding up the comic she was reading.

"Okay, what about you, Kenster?"

"I've gotta finish up this comic and get to bed early, too," explained Ken. "All band members are to meet before class tomorrow."

"Whatever, have fun with your comics, guys." said Bella.

"Sarcastic retort with a hint of boredom."

Bella rolled her eyes, smiling, as she and the others headed to the pool, leaving Hailey and Ken behind. Meanwhile, outside the dorm, Dr. Crowler, who was dressed in a dark gray wetsuit, sat in the bushes, apparently waiting to begin phase 2 of his "master plan".

"This will be perfect!" he whispered, gleefully. "Thanks to that faux love letter I wrote! Jaden will show up looking for Alexis, but all he'll find is trouble instead!"

He then dug into his bag, and took out his waterproof camera. He smiled evilly at the thought of obtaining evidence that would get the boy in trouble.

"Once he arrives, I'll snap a picture of him!" he continued.

Dr. Crowler laughed again, picturing the moment he'd snap a picture of the Slifer's surprised reaction.

"And then, I will have caught him red-handed breaking campus rules!" he finished. "He will be ruined!"

"Hey, did you hear something?" one girl's voice asked.

Dr. Crowler yelped, and ducked lower to the ground to avoid being seen.

"That's the sound of insanity, Ken." another girl's voice answered. "You'll be hearing a lot of that in high school."

The quip was immediately followed by the sound of amused chuckling. While Dr. Crowler was waiting for Jaden to fall into his little trap, Syrus had just made it to shore on his rowboat and made his way through the gates that kept out non-Obelisk Blue girls, but Dr. Crowler had broken the lock moments ago. Meanwhile, inside the pool, Jaden was the topic of interest in the girls' conversation.

"Could you believe what that Jaden kid said to Dr. Crowler in class today?" asked Jasmine. "He's got some nerve talking to a teacher like that! Completely disrespectful! Don't you think so, Alexis?"

Said student looked as if she didn't feel the same way about the Slifer duelist's actions as her friend. She respected the way that Jaden stood up for his friend, and Dr. Crowler deserved that shot.

"Actually I thought it was kind of cool." she said.

Then she turned away, as Mindy and Jasmine stared at her, surprised at what she said. Will, Luna, and Bella however gave her encouraging smiles.

"What?! Him, cool?!" Jasmine repeated.

"He could be, if he had the talent to back up that talk maybe." said Mindy.

"Well, he did take down Dr. Crowler at the exams." Luna reminded her. "That takes talent, right?"

"I call it luck." Jasmine shot back.

"Well he just might have it," Alexis commented. "Still I won't know until I duel him myself."

Outside the building, Dr. Crowler sat in the bushes, patiently waiting for Jaden to come. Then he heard some footsteps coming towards him, and took out his camera.

"Come, Jaden!" the teacher whispered, gleefully. "Right into my trap like the Slifer Sap you are!"

After a few seconds, he finally caught sight of a Slifer Red student, but it was not the one he had in mind.

"Alexis?" Syrus called.

Dr. Crowler leapt out of the bushes, shocked.

"That's not Jaden!" he yelped. "It's that stammering Field Spell nitwit!"

Unfortunately for both male species, he yelled a little too loudly, and caught the attention of one girl who was wandering around outside.

"Who's there?" she asked.

Meanwhile-

Inside the main lobby of the Obelisk Blue girls' dorm, Hailey turned the page in the comic book, and after a moment of reading, she began laughing loudly. Ken looked up from her own book at her, raising an eyebrow.

"Now if only this could happen in real life." said Hailey.

She showed Ken what she was laughing at, it was a part of the story that showed Sonic the Hedgehog in a pet show, and was commanded to speak. Sonic was shown in one panel dressed up as a scholar, complete with a bubble pipe, responding with "Is there any particular topic you'd like me to address?".

"If a pet responded to a speak command like that, I'd love to see the kind of reaction it brings about." said Ken. "Hey, you think we could teach Pharoah to do that?"

"Ken,-"

Just before Hailey could continue, her PDA went off, and she took it out of her pocket to answer it. Rakaia's face showed up on the screen, and his expression showed that whatever it was he had to say was really urgent.

"Hey, Rakaia." greeted Hailey.

"Rakaia?" Ken spoke up, leaning over to look at the screen. "Hey, what's up, dude?"

"Syrus is on his way over there!" Rakaia alerted them. "Stop him now!"

The two girls in the dorm looked up at each other, confused, then back at the screen.

"Syrus?" Hailey repeated. "But why? What reason would he have to come way out here at this hour?"

"Never mind that!" Rakaia shouted, urgently. "Hurry!"

He hung up, and Ken stood up from her seat, preparing to take off.

"Come on, we better find the little guy before-" she began.

"It's a boy!" a girl's voice shouted from outside.

Hailey and Ken groaned softly, and the former quickly dropped her comic on the couch, then raced out the door, while Ken redialed Rakaia on her PDA.

"Hey, uh, amigo, we've got a situation." she said.

Outside, Hailey hurried into the crowd and saw a large group of girls surrounding something, and upon closer look, saw that it was Syrus that was in the center of the group, and Jessi and Sega both held his arms behind his back, while Mindy and Jasmine stood in front of them, wearing towels around their torso, as they had just gotten out of the pool to see what was up. None of the girls looked very happy about the intruder, and Syrus wasn't looking exactly happy either. In fact, he looked confused and scared, but that didn't exactly register in the other girls' minds, except Hailey perhaps.

"Let go! Please?" Syrus begged, whimpering.

"Not until you tell us why you're here!" Jasmine scolded him. "And it better be good!"

Hailey ran back inside, and saw Ken was heading back down the stairs fully dressed in her school pants, shoes, and a black t-shirt with the Dragon Quest logo on it. She pulled on her Obelisk Blue jacket, and looked up at Hailey.

"Rakaia says he's getting Jaden." Ken informed her. "What should we do?"

"Pray that Syrus doesn't get worse treatment from the other girls than what Dr. Crowler did earlier." Hailey replied, heading upstairs. "I'll get dressed, you go and help Sy out as much as you can."

"Got it, amiga."

Hailey took off upstairs to her room, while Ken headed over to the door, just as Alexis was heading out of the pool room, wrapping a towel around herself.

"Hey, what's going on?" asked Alexis. "Mindy and Jasmine just took off."

"All will be revealed shortly." Ken responded.

Mindy and Jasmine marched into the building, with a rope in one of Jasmine's hands. Attached to the other end of the rope was Syrus, whose wrists were tied in front of him with the rope, and he was dragged along by the two taller girls, with Luna, Bella, Sega, Jessi, Taryn, and Will flanking behind the three.

"I see your point." said Alexis.

Moments after all of the girls were dressed, well, some of them in their pajamas, Syrus was ordered to explain himself, so he did. He explained that he had found a love letter in his locker, and it was signed from Alexis.

"A love letter from Alexis?" asked Mindy. "You've got to be kidding."

"Yep! Ask her!" Syrus replied, with a wink and a sheepish laugh.

"Um, hello! Like Alexis is really tall and you're really short," Jasmine informed him. "She's really good at dueling and you're really not, she's really hot, and-"

"Is there a point to this?" asked Jessi.

"I don't think so." replied Taryn.

"But it's true!" Syrus insisted. "Just tell them, Alexis! I even have the note right here!"

He dug into his jacket pocket and took out the note, holding it up for them to take. Jasmine opened it, and took out the letter, then held it so Alexis and Mindy could see. Ken noticed the kissmark on the back of the envelope and frowned.

_"That trashy shade of lipstick," _she thought. _"Where have I seen it before?"_

Hailey, who was standing beside Ken, saw her frown, and realized she might know something. By this time, Alexis had finished reading the letter, and frowned at Syrus.

"Syrus, my name's not even spelled right there." she said.

"Sorry, Syrus, but I think someone is yanking your chain here." stated Mindy.

That brought the blue-haired teen's mood down big time. Ken, feeling sorry for him, decided to speak up.

"Y'know, I did see Dr. Crowler putting on lipstick," she told them. "and kissing the back of an envelope earlier."

This brought about confused and mystified looks from the others as they stared back at her.

"Ken, did you have another cold pizza induced daydream again?" asked Bella.

"As strange as it sounds, Bella, this is something I'd never kid about." Ken declared, seriously. "I saw him do it."

"You know, he's already humiliated Syrus once today, it wouldn't surprise me if he pulled this cruel stunt." Hailey piped up.

"Only one problem, ladies," Jasmine announced, re-reading the letter. "This note's made out to one Jaden Yuki."

The others stared at her, surprised.

"What? Jaden?" Syrus repeated, confused.

"For real?" asked Sega.

Jasmine turned over the note for them to see. Sure enough, it was addressed to Jaden. Syrus' mood worsened, and he felt even worse about this than before.

"So I can't even get a fake love letter." he moaned.

Alexis couldn't help but feel really bad for the smaller boy. Humiliated in front of a whole class by a teacher earlier, now this? Talk about a recipe for disaster.

"I'm sorry, Syrus." she apologized honestly.

"Me too." Syrus returned the apology.

Meanwhile, the wheels were turning in Jasmine's head. She still didn't trust the guy.

"I don't buy it," she announced to her friends. "He could've written the note to have an excuse to come here."

"What are you saying?" asked Mindy. "That we should report him for trespassing then?"

The caused several of the girls to glare back at Syrus.

"But I was invited here!" the shorter Slifer exclaimed. "I swear!"

"Jasmine, I think we should just give him the benefit of the doubt." Hailey defended him. "He's not doing anything wrong."

"'Not doing anything wrong'?!" Jasmine argued, outraged. "He trespassed on girls' campus, Hailey!"

"He's clearly telling the truth though."

"Oh, because the delinquent with the criminal record said that a teacher wore some lipstick and kissed the back of an envelope?"

"Hey, leave my criminal record out of this, sister!" Ken shot back, stepping forward. "And I'm telling the truth! I saw it with my own two eyes!"

"Step off, robo-geek!"

"Wanna dance, missy? Well bring it on!"

"Ladies first!"

"Those are fightin' words, Red!"

Bella groaned softly, facepalming as the two began to bicker, then they all stopped hearing a door open.

"Girls, just what on Earth is going on down there?!" Ms. Fontaine demanded from upstairs.

The girls all began to panic, until Alexis gestured for them to scatter, then she turned to Mindy and Jasmine.

"Down." she whispered. "Hurry!"

Getting the message, the two girls forced Syrus on all fours, and hid him from sight, with Hailey and Taryn behind each of the girls, so his legs were hidden also. The other girls were either just sitting on the furniture, reading magazines that were sitting on the table, or skimming through the cards in their decks while standing. Ms. Fontaine stepped out by the railing and looked to see what her students were doing.

"Alright, what's up?" she asked, suspicious.

"You guys are heavy!" Syrus groaned, obviously uncomfortable with the pressure being put on him.

Mindy and Jasmine were sitting down on him, in an effort to hide him from the teachers' view.

"Beg your pardon?!" hissed Jasmine.

"Maybe you're just brittle!" Mindy agreed, glaring down at him.

"Guys, please!" Hailey pleaded, silently.

"Gee, sorry, Ms. Fontaine!" Alexis apologized, with a shrug. "We'll make sure to keep a lid on things!"

"Yeah, just a little dispute between Ken and Jasmine!" Jessi explained, gesturing to her two friends.

"Well please keep it down then, it's nearly midnight!" Ms. Fontaine scolded them. "You all have classes and I have pilates in the morning!"

The others downstairs watched as Ms. Fontaine turned away from them, and walked away, then completely disappeared from view. They heard a door open and close and breathed a sigh of relief. The girls then regathered, trying to figure out what to do next.

"So now what?" asked Jasmine.

It didn't take long for someone to answer that question.

"I'll tell you what now, girls." Alexis announced.

The others looked up at her, as the blond-haired Obelisk crossed her arms over her chest.

"I say we use Sy here as a kind of bait, to find out what we were wondering about before." she went on. "Just how good Jaden really is, and I think I know just how to get him to show us his best."

"Elaborate, please?" Ken asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Jaden is going to duel me, and I think you know what'll be on the line."

Hailey looked up at the blond Obelisk Blue, concerned. Syrus was truly sorry about what he did, but apparently, it wasn't enough. Their freedom would have to be earned. Ken gulped, audibly, remembering how she was defeated by Alexis, but the way Syrus was looking, she knew he could use some reassurance.

"No worries, Sy!" Ken told him. "Jaden's a great duelist, he can-"

She stopped in midsentence, remembering that Alexis was in the room still. She turned to see her glaring lightly at her, as if insulted.

"Sorry, just trying to make him feel less depressed." Ken apologized, smiling sheepishly.

Jasmine then smiled deviously, as if thinking of something.

"Hey, Ken, could you go get your stack of comics?" she asked. "For Syrus to read while we wait for Jaden."

Bella tried to warn her sister that Jasmine was up to something, but Ken went off up the stairs, and into her room. Jasmine hurried up the stairs and shut the door quickly. The other girls and Syrus watched as Jasmine took measures in securing Ken into her room, sweatdropping as she did so.

"Uh, why did she lock Ken in her room?" asked Syrus.

"Like duh! Ken dueled Alexis just last night, and lost!" Mindy stated, in a matter-of-factly voice. "That little robo-geek will spill on how to beat her deck!"

Bella opened her mouth to argue, but Alexis raised a hand, gesturing her to silence. The dark-haired girl turned to ask why Alexis wouldn't let her defend her sister, but something in Alexis' eyes told her just to go with it. Jasmine made her way back down the stairs, dusting her hands off, and walked back over to Alexis' side. As Alexis walked away to make the call to Jaden, Ken walked back inside and made her way over to Jasmine and Mindy's side once again.

"What's Alexis doing?" she asked, curiously.

"She's sending the message to the Slifer Slacker to come get his little buddy." explained Jasmine.

"Oh, cool! So, who do you think's gonna win when they duel?"

"A simple answer for a simple question, Ken, Lexi-"

Jasmine and Mindy blinked, confused, for a moment, then turned to see Ken grinning at them.

"Evenin'!" Ken greeted, giving a curt salute.

"How did you...?!" Mindy demanded, flabbergasted.

"She has a grappling hook." Alexis explained to them.

Meanwhile- Back at Slifer Red-

"300 move combo, yes!"

Jaden, unaware of his friend's plight, was playing a handheld video game before heading to bed. Chumley was already asleep, and Jaden didn't know where Syrus and Rakaia were. Of course, he soon figured out where the latter was when the door slammed open, startling the E-Hero duelist slightly. Rakaia charged into the room, appearing a bit panicked.

"Jaden, we've got a problem." he started. "It's-"

Just before he could explain what was going on, Jaden's PDA went off. Jaden paused his game, and picked it up to see who could be messaging him at this hour, with Rakaia joining his side. However, no face appeared on the screen much to their confusion, and to add to that confusion was the fact that the voice addressing Jaden was electronically disguised.

"We have your roommate Syrus." it spoke. "If you want him back, come to the girls' dorm now. Alone."

The owner of the voice hung up the moment it was finished delivering the message.

"Oh, Syrus." groaned Jaden. "I guess I'll be back in a bit, Rakaia."

"No, you don't, buddy boy." Rakaia told him. "I'm not letting my new pal go off along rescuing Little Boy Blue."

"You heard them though, I have to come alone."

"What are these guys gonna do, Jay? Girlify him?"

* * *

So part one of Episode 3 is completed. Dr. Crowler has already started plotting to get back at Jaden, along with Rakaia and Ken, and he's starting with Jaden. However, as you could tell, his plan backfired and Syrus was dragged into the mess he made. Unfortunately for the good guys, Jaden's still coming regardless. Will Jaden rescue Syrus? And what is the story behind the grappling hook? Only time will tell. Review and stay alert for future updates.

Hailey Ryan is owned by Peach Wookiee, Luna Tenshi, and Crayus and Rakaia Meiyo are obviously owned by Rakaia The Dragon Duelist, Sega Rivera is owned by Sega herself, Will Rosen is owned by 15animefreak15, Laura is owned by Hyruleepona, Taryn and Jessi Yuki are owned by Dyusu. As for my OCs, Ken, Matt, Kenneth, Chris, Bella, and Ramon, they're owned by me and my Duel Club familia. Don't own the original series part of the plot, but I did tweak with it a bit. The main plot is owned by Kazuki Takahashi and everyone else who helped bring Yu-Gi-Oh! GX into this world. Robot Alchemic Drive is developed by Sandlot, and published by Enix, so I guess they own the game. The Meganite and Volgara cards are being posted up on Deviant Art.


	7. Duelin' With Romeo and Juliet

Ch.7- Duelin' With Romeo and Juliet-

Some time later- The lake by the Girls' Dorm-

Dr. Crowler finally re-emerged from the water, still feeling annoyed that his plan to get Jaden expelled failed. His trap baited the wrong Slifer Slacker, and while Syrus might've gotten expelled for what the teacher did, it didn't matter to the Ancient Gear duelist.

"You try to expel one kid, and the entire world turns against you!" he griped, fuming.

He was about to swim off back to his own dorm, until he heard something a little ways from where he was. He looked to his left and saw Jaden sitting in a rowboat, heading off to the Obelisk Blue Girls' Dorm.

"You're a little late." he commented. "Wait,...isn't that...?"

Dr. Crowler squinted a little and saw Rakaia in the boat with Jaden, then his face broke out into a wide grin.

"Yes, now I'll be able to expel three Slifer Slackers for the price of one!" he cheered, quietly. "That just leaves one little delinquent and a dozen other slackers to go!"

He dove back underwater, and swam after the Slifers, back to girls' dorm territory. At shoreside were Alexis, Jasmine, Mindy, Syrus, Ken, Luna, and Hailey, with Syrus still in the grasp of Jasmine and Mindy. Jaden and Rakaia stepped out of the boat after rowing up to them, and walked over to them.

"Hi, Jaden." greeted Syrus. "Hey, Rakaia."

"Hey, so what exactly is going on here?" asked Jaden.

"Well, to make a long story short, I'm basically a big loser."

"No, you're not, Sy." Hailey scolded him, gently. "Stop putting yourself down."

Syrus winced a little, regardless of how gently she tried to say it, and looked down at his feet. Jasmine however refused to show the boy any sympathy.

"Your friend here trespassed into the girls' campus!" she informed the other two Slifers.

"Is that true, Sy?" asked Jaden.

"Hey, it's not like that!" Syrus argued, pleadingly.

"I keep telling them the truth," Ken defended the blue-haired teen. "Dr. Crowler put on some lipstick, then kissed the back of that envel-"

She was cut short when Mindy socked her over the head with her fist, and sent her crumpling to the ground, nursing a bright red bump on her head. Luna and Hailey knelt down to help Ken, who was now groaning in pain.

"It's true what they say, 'the truth hurts'." muttered Ken.

"And now that you're here, Jaden," Mindy informed the Slifers before them. "You're trespassing, too! You and your friend there!"

Rakaia looked between the girls, pointing at himself, and Mindy nodded to confirm his worst fears.

"Aw, dude!" Rakaia groaned, dramatically.

"So if you don't want us to turn you three in," Alexis declared, smiling. "Jaden will have to win your freedom by beating me in a duel right now!"

"Oh, is that all?"

"But if you turn us in, we'll all be expelled!"

The smile growing on Jaden's face showed that he wasn't afraid, and was willing to accept the challenge.

"Don't worry, Sy, I won't let that happen!" he reassured his friends. "Now let's duel, Alexis!"

The agreement was made, and Syrus was then released to go off with Jaden and Rakaia to return to their boat, while Mindy, Jasmine, and Alexis headed to another boat. Luna, Hailey, and Ken made to follow them, but were stopped by Mindy and Jasmine.

"Not so fast!" Mindy told them. "Ken, go back to the dorm!"

"Aw, I wanna watch!" Ken pouted, stomping her foot on the ground.

"Go, you can go make sure we're not locked out!"

Ken glared at the two girls for a moment, then stomped back into the door, grumbling under her breath.

"She's not going to cheat and tell Jaden how to beat her deck." Luna said, exhasperated.

"She still claims to have seen a grown man putting on lipstick, and being the mastermind behind the love letter," retorted Mindy. "Not to mention she has a grappling hook and doesn't support her fellow Obelisks. Shall I go on?"

Jaden and Rakaia looked between the two, confused about what they were arguing about, then started to row out to shore, with the other girls, who were in their own separate rowboats, following after them. When out in the middle of the lake, Jaden and Alexis stood up in their boats, with their dueldisks armed and ready to be activated. Rakaia and Syrus sat in the boat Jaden was in, while Mindy and Jasmine sat in Alexis' boat, and Luna and Hailey in the boat beside them.

"I hope you know what you're doing, Jaden." said Syrus.

"Show no fear, Jay!" Rakaia encouraged his pal.

Elsewhere, nearby, but not near enough to be spotted, Dr. Crowler was watching the duel in the water.

"Well, well, well, a Slifer versus an Obelisk!" he mused, smirking. "Put him in his place, Alexis!"

While he said this, the duel was ready to begin.

"Ready?" asked Alexis.

"Oh, yeah!" replied Jaden.

"DUEL!" the two called.

Their dueldisks activated, and their life points charged up to 4000. Syrus looked between the two duelists and gulped.

"Here we go." he said.

The first turn went to Alexis, who drew her card right away.

"Alright, let's see!" she announced.

The blond-haired female glanced at her hand, looking for a monster to play, and her gaze fell on one card on the far right. Placing the card she drew at the end of her hand, she took the other one.

"Etoile Cyber, rise!" commanded Alexis.

She slapped the card down on her dueldisk, and the same red and white-costumed dancer emerged onto the field, dancing as her long red hair flew behind her. Then Alexis took another card, and slipped it into her Spell and Trap Card slot.

"And I'm going to play one card facedown." she finished.

That signaled the end of her turn, allowing Jaden to begin his.

"Time to throw down!" he called. "First...!"

The E-Hero duelist drew his card, and smiled, looking at it.

"Yes!" he whispered, before speaking aloud. "I'll summon the Elemental Hero Sparkman!"

The electric hero in gold and blue armor appeared onto the field in a burst of electricity, ready for battle. And that's just what Jaden had him do.

"Now, I'll have him attack your Etoile Cyber," he announced. "With Static Shockwave!"

The Elemental Hero raised his hand, like a Dragonball character about to fire an energy blast, and fired a burst of electricity at the female dancer monster several feet away from him. Alexis growled lightly, and raised her arm.

"Hold it right there!" she yelled, as her facedown card flew face-up. "I activate the Trap card, Doble Passe!"

The electricity passed around Etoile Cyber, as if she was guarded by an invisible shield, and struck Alexis herself. Jaden stared, confused, as he watched his opponent take 1600 points of damage to protect her monster. Shaking off the shock, Alexis looked back up at Jaden, as her life points fell down to 2400.

"Doble Passe changes your monster's attack to an attack on me," she explained. "And now, my monster that you were about to attack gets to wage a direct attack on you!"

Sure enough, Etoile Cyber charged at Jaden, ready to strike his life points directly.

"Great." muttered Jaden.

But that wasn't the worst of it though.

"Oh, and when Etoile Cyber attacks someone directly, her ATK pts. increase by 600." Alexis informed him.

As Etoile Cyber twirled around in place rapidly as she reached Jaden, her ATK rose from 1200 to 1800. Jaden didn't have time to guard himself as the female monster landed a kick in his chest. Syrus and Rakaia watched as Jaden knelt down onto the boat, grasping at where the monster hit him, as his life points fell to 2200.

"Jaden!" cried Syrus.

"You okay, man?" asked Rakaia.

Jaden looked back up at Alexis, astounded at what she just did.

"That Alexis is something else," he commented. "Sacrificing her own life points just so she could get to mine."

Back over on Alexis' side of the field, as Etoile Cyber returned, Alexis looked over back at him.

"So, are you impressed?" she asked.

Jaden rose back onto his feet, it was obvious that what she did had impressed him.

"'Impressed'?" he repeated. "I think I'm in love."

"You're sweet," Alexis told him, smiling. "Too bad I have to crush you."

She then began her turn, and drew her card, smiling briefly as she did so. Then she held it up, ready to play it.

"I play Blade Skater!" the Obelisk shouted.

She placed it onto the slot next to Etoile Cyber, and a purple and lavender female monster with skate blades on the outer sides of her arms appeared onto the field. Unlike her teammate though, Blade Skater had no hair, but her clothing looked similar in style, with the exception of the skates she wore on her feet, and the golden hoop earring on her right ear. This monster had 1400 ATK pts..

_"Another monster weaker than Sparkman?" _Rakaia thought, confused. _"Why would she play her in Attack Mode?"_

As if to answer his question, Alexis held up another card. A very familiar card.

"And I activate the Spell card Polymerization," she announced. "To fuse Etoile Cyber and Blade Skater together to summon Cyber Blader!"

The two monsters on Alexis' side of the field moved towards each other, and when finally close to each other, disappeared in a whirlwind, which hid them from view. Seconds later, a new monster emerged from the gust. A female monster with long dark blue hair, and wore a lavender leotard with red flame-like patterns on her legs and torso with dark purple gloves and skates. She also wore a red visor over her eyes, which hid them from view. This monster had 2100 ATK pts.. Jaden gulped softly, this monster was now stronger than his Sparkman, and knowing this, Alexis prepared to attack.

"Now Cyber Blader attacks Sparkman with Whirlwind Rage!" she ordered.

The female skater monser spun around in place rapidly, then began to move across the water towards the Elemental Hero, before landing a kick in his face. Elemental Hero fell backwards, glowing for a brief moment, then shattered into minuscule little pixels. Jaden raised an arm to shield himself, while Syrus and Rakaia dove for cover into the boat. Lowering his arm, Jaden saw that his life points dropped to 1700.

"Well, so much for him." he sighed.

Mindy and Jasmine congratulated their friend on gaining the upper hand in the duel, while Dr. Crowler watched with a grin. He was pleased with his Obelisk Blue student, enjoying the fact that she was going to beat the Slifer Slacker who had humiliated him in his class and at the entrance exams.

"Hang in there, Jaden!" Rakaia called out to his friend. "Show 'em you did have the skills to beat Crowler and still do!"

This caused Dr. Crowler to turn red, steaming from the top of his head, and he then leapt out of the water, ranting and screaming. Luckily for him that it went unheard and unseen, for some mysterious reason, and then he fell back into the water.

"My pleasure!" Jaden agreed, drawing his card. "And my draw!"

He smiled when looking to see what he had drawn, and pressed a button on his dueldisk, causing the Field Spell slot to open on the right end side.

"I activate the Field Spell card Fusion Gate!" announced Jaden. "Now I can summon Fusion monsters without a Polymerization card, and I'm gonna summon this one!"

He held up two cards for Alexis to see, it was Elemental Heroes Avian and Burstinatrix. And that meant one thing. The cards vanished in a golden light, and the Flame Wingman emerged onto the field in a similar golden light. However, Alexis was ready for him.

"Okay, it looks like it's going to be one Fusion monster against another, huh, Jaden?" she said, smiling. "Although,..."

Jaden looked at her, confused. What was she going on about?

"...since they have the exact same ATK pts., they're just going to destroy each other." Alexis concluded.

Her statement was met with a smile on the E-Hero duelist's face.

"Not after I play this, they won't." Jaden told her, placing another card in his dueldisk. "I activate the Spell card, Kishido Spirit! Now, Wingman can take down any monster that has the same ATK pts. as him, and not be destroyed. And thanks to his superpower, once he destroys your Blader, you take damage equal to her ATK pts.."

Alexis' eyes narrowed into a slight glare upon hearing that, then she watched Jaden command his monster to attack her Blader. As the Flame Wingman drew closer to her Cyber Blader, a smirk crossed her features.

_"Someone hasn't done their homework..."_ she thought.

She calmly waited for their monsters to clash, and watched as Cyber Blader raised a hand to block the Flame Wingman's dragon head arm from shooting fire at her. Jaden watched from his own side of the field, very confused.

"Jaden, are you sure that Kishido Spirit card says only the monster on your side of the field cannot be destroyed by battle with a monster with the same ATK pts. as him?" asked Rakaia.

"Positive," replied Jaden. "But I don't get it. How did she survive the attack?"

"Simple, boys." Alexis answered them. "Cyber Blader's special ability makes it so she can't be destroyed by an opponent with only one monster."

Which basically translated to nobody loses a monster, and nobody loses any life points. Jaden couldn't help but smile, feeling a lot more impressed than ever now.

"Well, I guess you got me." he said, with a light shrug.

"Oh, when I get you, Jaden, believe me, you'll know it." Alexis told him, drawing her card. "Like right now for example."

She smiled and showed him the card she just drew. It was an Equip Spell card.

"I equip my Spell, Fusion Weapon, to Cyber Blader!" the Cyber Girl duelist announced.

The six of them watched as Cyber Blader's right arm transformed into a mutated trident-like weapon, and her ATK pts. went up from 2100 to 3600.

"Uh oh," groaned Jaden. "I think you guys might want to brace yourselves for this one."

"Good thing we don't get sea sick, huh, Sy?" asked Rakaia.

"After this, I might be." Syrus told him.

His statement was met with a slight glare from Rakaia.

"Go, Blader!" Alexis shouted, raising her hand. "Attack the Flame Wingman, with Trident Shock!"

The Cyber Blader raised her new mutated trident arm and fired a burst of electricity at Jaden's Fusion monster, electrocuting him, and destroying him, taking 1500 of Jaden's life points in the process.

"Uh oh, your life points are looking pretty low." said Alexis. "Hope you didn't unpack your bags here yet."

"Yeah, because if you lose, you're all getting expelled!" Mindy added, tauntingly.

"W-We are?!" asked Syrus.

"Sy, some optimism, please?" Rakaia pleaded with him.

"Rakaia's right, that's never gonna happen," Jaden agreed, looking back at his friends. "I promise."

"See?"

Alexis, overhearing the conversation, mentally warned her opponent not to make promises that he can't deliver. Jaden, however, was thinking the same thing, as he was planning a way to turn this duel around.

_"The only card I have out is Fusion Gate,"_ he thought, coming up with a plan. _"But there's still a chance I can win. It just all depends on what I draw right here, right now!"_

He drew his card, crossing his fingers on the inside for a miracle, and smiled. He got his miracle.

"Perfect." he stated, smiling.

Alexis looked at him, confused, and watched as Jaden began to work.

"I play the Elemental Hero Clayman!" he announced, placing a card onto the dueldisk. "Rise up!"

The clay-costumed Elemental Hero appeared onto the field in a bright golden light, and stood before Jaden, facing the Cyber Blader. The others stared, confused, as to what Jaden's plan was, since Clayman's 800 ATK strength was far too low to take on Alexis' Cyber Blader and her 3600 ATK strength. However, Jaden was far from done.

"Now I activate Monster Reborn!" he added, holding up a Spell card. "So, come on back, Elemental Hero Sparkman!"

A tornado shot up onto the field, and the electric E-Hero shot out of the top of it, landing beside his teammate.

"What difference will he make?" asked Alexis. "My Cyber Blader has way more ATK pts. than him. Your Sparkman won't stand a chance."

_"She's right," _Rakaia agreed mentally. _"What's Jaden...? Wait, that's it!"_

"He won't, but with Fusion Gate's special effect, I can fuse him and Clayman together to summon someone who will!" Jaden explained, holding up a card. "Rise, Elemental Hero Thunder Giant!"

Jaden, Alexis, and the other seven spectators watched as Elemental Heroes Sparkman and Clayman stood back-to-back, spinning around rapidly in place as they were enveloped by a bright pale blue light. The light then turned into a lightning bolt that shot into the sky, creating a vortex in the clouds above them, then the water began to stir up, rocking the boats a little as the light grew brighter, and the new Hero touched down above the water. This new hero's golden, white, and purple armor resembled Clayman's in shape and size, but also showed some of Sparkman's style as well. His helmet looked a little like Sparkman's but now only showed half of his face, and there were white spikes on his back and shoulder armored-pads. He also had golden and white clawed gloves with a sphere of electrical energy caged inside it, resembling the one on his chest. This new Hero had 2400 ATK pts., which was still weaker than Alexis' monster.

"Hate to break it to you, but my Cyber Blader's ATK pts. are still higher at 3600." the Cyber Girl duelist reminded her opponent.

"Yeah, I know, I know," Jaden responded, calmly. "But one of Thunder Giant's abilities is that he can destroy a monster whose original ATK pts. are less than his own."

"Wait, 'original ATK pts.'?"

"That's right, ATK pts. without any kind of enhancement."

Alexis' eyes widened a little in surprise.

"But before I played Fusion Weapon, her ATK pts. were just 2100!" she gasped in realization.

"Exactly!" Jaden said, grinning. "And that's lower than my Hero Thunder Giant's, so your Blader is automatically destroyed!"

The nine of them watched as Thunder Giant surfed his way over to Alexis' side of the field, and in front of Cyber Blader, then raised a hand over her head. A bright volt of electrical energy began to glow in the sphere embedded on the inward side of the Thunder Giant's right hand, then supercharged Cyber Blader until she exploded into billions of digital pixels, leaving Alexis wide open for a direct attack.

"And the coolest part of it is, Alexis, I still have his attack left to use on you!" Jaden announced, as the Thunder Giant charged up his power again. "Voltic Thunder!"

Thunder Giant finished charging up his energy, and thrust his hands out before him, sending a large volt of electricity at Alexis, who could only stand there in shock (no pun intended, I swear) as the attack struck her. Some stray, smaller jolts struck and gave Dr. Crowler a mild shock, as he gave a yelp of pain. Jasmine, Mindy, Luna, and Hailey watched as Alexis knelt back onto the boat, while her life points hit 0.

"A-Alexis!" Jasmine gasped.

"Uh, what just happened?" asked Mindy.

Back on the other side of the field, the Slifers cheered for Jaden's victory, thrilled that they weren't going to be expelled.

"Alright, Jaden!" cheered Rakaia.

"Yeah!" Syrus threw in.

Jaden looked over at Alexis and shot her the same two-fingered salute he had given Dr. Crowler at the entrance exams.

"Alright, looks like that is game!" he said.

Moments later, as the Slifers rowed back over to the Obelisks, Jaden reminded the girls about the deal they had made. Alexis didn't mind at all keeping her end of the bargain, but Jasmine was a different story.

"Well, if you ask me, I say we turn all three of them in, right now!" she declared, fuming.

"Hey, that's not cool!" Rakaia defended himself and his friends. "We had a deal, and Syrus apologized!"

"Besides, no one asked you!" Alexis agreed, glaring at her friend.

Jasmine stared back at her, taken aback at what she just said.

"Jaden beat me in the duel fair and square," Alexis reminded her. "And that's all there is to it."

"Well, there's more to it than that." Jaden said, causing all eyes to fall on him. "It was close."

Alexis stared at the Slifer student hard, as he crossed his arms over his chest. Jaden then smirked, closing his eyes in thought, before opening them back up to look at her.

"Yeah, you got game." he commented, looking Alexis dead in the eyes.

Alexis stared, speechless, at his kind compliment, and the girls watched as the Slifers rowed back to their dorm.

_"Even if I did win, I could never have turned those guys in." _Alexis thought, smiling. _"This place is a lot more fun with them, than without."_

Jasmine however stared hard at her friend, confused still. Why did she let the three Slifers go unpunished? Then she began to wonder if Alexis was starting to fall in love with Jaden. The girls began to row back to their dorm, leaving Dr. Crowler, who was still hidden from sight in the water, watching the Slifers walk away, figuratively speaking, scot-free.

"Lucky brat, he's escaped this time, but I'll still find a way to expel him!" he muttered to himself. "And those other two punks as well!"

Then he realized that he did not know where exactly he was, and went off to find his way back to his own dorm.

* * *

I think it might be the lack of soda getting to me, but I think I'm slacking off now. Then again, it might be my imagination. Moving on, so Jaden won his, Syrus', and Rakaia's freedom in a fair duel against Alexis, who wouldn't have turned them in anyway. Next up, is the field tests with three duels, one of them being Chazz vs. Jaden. Please review, and I will be introducing submitted OCs in the next chapter, so if you want to throw one in, send a message to me and we'll talk.

Hailey Ryan is owned by Peach Wookiee, Luna Tenshi, and Crayus and Rakaia Meiyo are obviously owned by Rakaia The Dragon Duelist, Sega Rivera is owned by Sega herself, Will Rosen is owned by 15animefreak15, Laura is owned by Hyruleepona, Taryn and Jessi Yuki are owned by Dyusu. As for my OCs, Ken, Matt, Kenneth, Chris, Bella, and Ramon, they're owned by me and my Duel Club familia. Don't own the original series part of the plot, but I did tweak with it a bit. The main plot is owned by Kazuki Takahashi and everyone else who helped bring Yu-Gi-Oh! GX into this world. Robot Alchemic Drive is developed by Sandlot, and published by Enix, so I guess they own the game. The Meganite and Volgara cards are being posted up on Deviant Art.


	8. Dr Crowler's Enforcers

Ch.8-Dr. Crowler's Enforcers-

"Hey, Syrus, you and Jay up yet?" Rakaia asked, walking into the room. "It's about-"

He stopped upon seeing Syrus sitting at the desk, with two identical candles on either side of him, and a picture of Slifer the Sky Dragon on the wall in front of him. He also wore a headband with three Monster Reborn cards on the inside of the headgear, each card several inches apart from each other. Jaden and Chumley were still laying in their beds, the former dead asleep, and snoring the morning away.

"Please, please, please!" Syrus prayed, shutting his eyes tightly. "Please, help me ace my exams today, or I'll be stuck wearing this red blazer forever! Not that there's anything wrong with red of course, it's great on you, Slifer!"

A lightbulb then lit up in Rakaia's head, as he quietly tiptoed behind his roommate, then he took a dragon claw glove out of his backpack and put it on. Then he reached out with his gloved hand and quickly grabbed Syrus' shoulder.

"I WILL DEVOUR YOUR SOUL!" he shouted in a raspy voice.

Syrus shrieked, as he jumped out of his seat, and began running around the room. After a while of screaming hysterically, he dove back into his bed and under his covers. Upon hearing the sound of laughter, Syrus poked his head out to see Rakaia laying on the ground on his back, clutching his ribs as he laughed his butt off.

"Very funny!" Syrus snapped, glaring at him.

"I could not resist!" Rakaia apologized, unable to stop laughing. "I'm sorry!"

Syrus fumed at him, his face turning red with embarrassment, as he went back to his seance. He folded his hands in a prayer-like gesture, and went back to praying to the poster of the Egyptian God.

"I wanna be in Ra Yellow," the short teen said, praying hard to the poster. "Please give me a sign that you'll help!"

As if on cue, a shrill ringing interrupted his concentration, and surprised him greatly.

"Slifer?!" he cried.

He looked around and found that it was just the alarm clock going off, and despite all the noise that had occured in less than five minutes, Jaden was still dead asleep.

"I am so tempted to call over Sega and have her give him a makeover." Rakaia said, glancing at Jaden.

"He'd probably sleep through the end of the world if he could." Syrus commented, rubbing the back of his head.

He went to go and wake their sleeping roommate up, but Jaden's sleep dueling caused him to subconsciously knock Syrus backwards. Syrus felt someone catch him before he fell, and looked up to see Rakaia push him back up on his feet.

"Thanks, Rakaia." he said.

"Anytime, pal." replied Rakaia.

"Why can't he ever be dreaming in Defense Mode whenever we wake him up?"

"Duh, guys, you shouldn't be waking him up at all." Chumley spoke from his bunk.

His sudden statement caused the two other Slifers to look up at him.

"Just think about it, after today's written test we have our field tests." Chumley explained, looking at them. "And it would be totally 'lichious for us if Jaden slept right through it. You guys get what I'm saying?"

_"I do, and I don't like it." _Rakaia thought, facefaulting.

"Chumley, I never get anything that you say." Syrus spoke, frowning.

"Hello, the field test is where they pit class members against each other in a duel," Chumley continued. "And I don't wanna duel the guy who beat Dr. Crowler. So, if we let the competition sleep in, then we make out, get it?"

Syrus glared at him, and called him out thinking this was how he was held back two years. He then shook Jaden's shoulder in a last attempt to wake him up.

"Jaden, get out of bed! We're already late!" he called. "I'll save you a spot! Hurry!"

Rakaia and Chumley watched as the blue-haired teen rushed out of the room, and Rakaia raced out after him.

"Syrus!" he called.

Syrus turned to look back at him, jogging in place, and Rakaia tapped at his forehead, indicating that his roommate should remove his seance gear before going into class. Syrus did so, putting his cards in one pocket, and the headband in the other, then took off again. Rakaia dashed back into his room, to try to wake Jaden up again. Meanwhile, Syrus headed up the dirt path leading to the Academy, and began to mentally cram for the tests.

_"'A Normal Trap can counter a Normal Spell'," _Syrus told himself, mentally._ "'A Quick-Play Spell can beat a Ritual Spell'-"_

He stopped when he tripped and fell onto the ground.

_"A double-knot beats a single-knot..." _he thought, wincing.

A little while after Syrus had left, Jaden headed off to class, as Rakaia had left a good five minutes after Syrus did.

"Boy, that Chumley sure can cook!" said Jaden. "A five course breakfast! Wow!"

He sped up the hill, passing a nearly elderly woman and a van as he did so. Then Jaden stopped in his tracks, and looked back over at the woman. She was dressed in a pink collared shirt, with blue pants and a blue apron, and her long brown hair was braided, laying on her right shoulder. She also wore a pair of glasses similar to Syrus', and a pair of hoop earrrings. The woman seemed to be trying to get the van up the slope and to the school, but was having difficulty doing so.

"To be a gentleman, or to be on time?" the Slifer Red student wondered aloud.

He quickly made up his mind and dashed back to help the lady out by pushing the van from the back.

"Have no fear!" he announced. "Jaden is here!"

"Oh, thank you!" the woman said, happily. "You must be from the Auto Club!"

"Don't let the red jacket fool you. I'm just your average good deed dude."

"Isn't that nice?"

Jaden then noticed that he made the mistake of letting go of the van, which caused it to begin rolling back down the slope. He quickly began helping push again, apologizing quickly.

"What would be nice if I helped you push!" he yelped.

"Thank you!" the woman said again.

"Hey, it's my pleasure! Now I can skip the gym!"

"You're such a sweet boy. I'll remember this."

A longer while later, Jaden hurried into class, and saw the students were deep into their test-taking. Rakaia was already halfway through his work, but Syrus had fallen asleep on his test, mumbling in his sleep.

"...which counters...a Field Spell,..." he spoke, tiredly. "...which counters..."

Jaden walked over to him, smiling, causing Rakaia to look up at him.

"I didn't know this was an oral exam, Syrus." the E-Hero duelist said, grinning.

Syrus immediately woke up, and saw Jaden was right next to him.

"Or maybe next time, sleep would be better than an all-night Slifer seance." the latter finished.

_"Insert wisecrack here, ladies and gentlemen." _Rakaia thought, grinning.

"You're here!" Syrus cheered, quietly.

"You two wanna keep it down?!" snapped Chazz.

Syrus and Jaden looked up to see him rising out of his seat, glaring at them.

"Some of us plan to pass this test!" the Obelisk male griped at them.

"Hey, I always plan on passing!" Jaden defended himself. "It just doesn't always work out that way!"

"Oh, Jaden!"

Jaden froze up, upon hearing his teacher, Prof. Banner, call up to him.

"Why don't you come down here and get your exam?" he announced.

Jaden chuckled embarrassedly, and dashed down the steps to retrieve it.

_"Look at him." _Bastion observed, mentally._ "Tardy. Purile. If only he had applied himself, he could be a great duelist."_

_"I hope you know what you're doing, Jaden." _Alexis thought, as she watched Jaden return to his seat.

Several minutes later, while the other students were still testing, Jaden and Syrus had fallen fast asleep beside each other, snoring loudly. Unknown to them, Dr. Crowler was peering through the door, watching them, and laughing.

"You may be able to dream your way through the written exam, Jaden," he spoke, quietly. "But when your field test starts, believe me, it will be a nightmare!"

He began to laugh maniacally, then stopped, seeing Rakaia stand up to take his test back down to Prof. Banner.

"And you, Rakaia, I've got something special in store for you and that other delinquent as well." Dr. Crowler announced, grinning evilly. "Today, you three will meet your matches."

A little over a half an hour later, Prof. Banner rose from his seat, looking at the students before him.

"Alright, class, the written exam is now over," he announced. "So, please walk, do not run, to get in line for today's new rare cards."

"They're here?!" one student asked.

"Oh, dear."

Most of the students immediately stampeded out of the classroom through the doorways, and down the halls, like they were running for their lives. Prof. Banner and several other students had to leap onto their desks to avoid being ran over, and waited for the dust to settle before getting down.

"High school is dangerous." Alexis commented, heading out the door.

"You're telling me." a male voice spoke.

Alexis looked down to see Matt and Ken facedown on the ground, covered in footprints, with their clothing dirty and torn. It was obvious that they were caught in the student stampede. Alexis knelt down to help them up, and the two elder teens brushed themselves off.

"Why's everyone in such a rush?" asked Ken.

"New rare cards arrived today," explained Alexis. "And it's always first come first serve here."

"Okay, now how come you're not charging around like a rhino on a rampage?"

"Why aren't you going to get some new cards?"

"My deck's just fine the way it is."

Alexis then shot her a skeptical look, and Ken looked away, scratching the back of her head.

"Hey, that was just one loss, man!" she stated, embarrassed. "I'll win next time! No sweat!"

Matt then looked between them, interested.

"Whoa, 'one loss'?" he asked. "Did you two duel?"

"During the Welcome Dinner, Ken challenged me to a duel." replied Alexis. "She put up a great fight, but I pretty much clobbered her with Gllang."

Matt winced upon hearing that, while Ken slowly looked up to glare at Alexis.

"Gee, thanks a lot." she said.

Alexis just smiled sheepishly at her in return. Meanwhile, back with the Slifer trio, Bastion stood beside where they were sitting, and the former was trying to wake them up.

"You two might want to give some serious thought to waking up." he called, shaking Syrus' shoulder.

Syrus woke up with a shout, startling the Ra student, and within seconds, Syrus' mood changed from surprised to depressed.

"I flunked, didn't I?" he asked. "I'm a complete failure."

"Sy, if they were grading on melodrama, you'd get an A." Jaden commented, lifting his head up.

Rakaia then sat up, stretching his arms and yawning loudly, before looking at Bastion.

"Morning, Bastion." he greeted. "What's Sy going on about now?"

"And where'd everyone go?" asked Syrus.

"That's what I was trying to tell you." Bastion answered, calmly. "The new rare cards arrived today, everyone's at the card shack."

Jaden, who was fully awake at this time, stared at him, excitement glowing in his eyes, while Syrus stood there, shocked. Now they were just knowing about this?

"How come no one told us?" he asked.

"Because everyone wants the best cards for themselves." explained Bastion. "To use in the upcoming field tests."

"So why aren't you getting some?"

"Please, one errant card, and my deck's delicate balance would be completely thrown off."

Rakaia shot him a skeptical glance, while Jaden and Syrus decided to go and get some new cards. The two of them darted out the door, and accidentally stampeded over Matt and Ken in the process. Bastion and Rakaia stepped out of the classroom, joining Alexis in looking at the two teens, laying on the ground, groaning in pain with swirls in place of their eyes.

"High school needs to come with a warning label." commented Alexis.

"Truer words have never been spoken." agreed Rakaia.

"Let's get them to the infirmary." said Bastion.

Meanwhile- Down the halls-

The rest of the student body were on their way to the card shack, and began pounding on the steel door that prevented them from gaining entrance. The sound of many footsteps marching towards them alerted them to the presence of armed military-like men dressed in similar black uniforms approaching them, each armed with a baton. Many of the students looked at them, chanting for the new cards excitedly. Then the soldiers separated into two perfectly aligned rows, and one man dressed in a white military uniform marched down the hall between the rows of black-clad men, with a suitcase in his hand.

"Oh, children!" the man in white called to them. "Lookin' for these?"

He raised the hand holding the suitcase, indicating that he had what they were wanting. The students cheered, pleased that they had finally arrived. The man walked over to them, as the students parted to let him through, and he pulled up the metal door. He looked back at the students once he was on the other side, and smiled.

"Come and get it." he stated.

The door rose up completely, as the card shack opened for business, but to the students' great displeasure, they saw that all that remained in the suitcase was a small white envelope. In short, nobody was a happy camper at the moment. There were no new card packs, they had been completely screwed. Chris emerged from the crowd, confused, as he asked what was on the minds of the students in the shack.

"Hey, where'd they all go?" he asked.

"You know the rules, 'first come, first serve'." the woman in the pink and purple replied.

The man dressed in a black overcoat, and black cap then wagged a finger at the teens.

"And I was first, so I took them all!" he declared.

"Oh, come on!" Conklin complained, outraged. "That's totally bogus!"

"The guy brings up a great point," agreed Ramon. "Even the rich kids here were decent sports about this and waited until class was over to get some new cards!"

"Well, maybe next time, you'll get lucky." the man told them.

He walked off, laughing happily as he did, leaving the outraged students groaning and griping about what just happened.

"Who does that guy think he is?!" demanded Chris. "Students kinda need them so they can be prepared for the field tests later today!"

"Look, what happened, happened," Ramon told his two friends. "Let's just work with what we've got, okay?"

Chris and Kenneth looked at each other, then followed their friend back down the hall to prepare for the exams. Not too long after the group of irritated students left, Jaden and Syrus were heading down to the card shack, unaware of what had happened.

"Come on, Sy! Let's make tracks!" shouted Jaden. "We've gotta get..."

The two stumbled to a halt when heading around the corner leading to the hall going to their destination. It was empty, like a ghost town. It hadn't been that long since the other students got a headstart on them.

"...in line?" Jaden finished, awkwardly.

"Where is everyone?" asked Syrus. "They couldn't have..."

The two teens exchanged panicked looks.

"RUN OUT OF CARDS ALREADY?!" they yelped.

Rakaia, who had decided at the last minute to go join his friends, joined them at last, and looked around.

"Whoa, I've heard of a product selling like hotcakes, but this is ridiculous!" he mused, looking around.

Jaden ignored him, and bolted to the counter, where a woman was standing behind it. The E-Hero duelist called out to her as he and his friends made their way there, asking if there was any cards left.

"You still have some cards left, right?" asked Jaden.

"Of course we have some left." the woman replied.

The Slifers' faces brightened up a little, but the next words to come out of the lady's mouth caused their faces to fall again.

"Just regular packs though." she told them.

She took out one pack, and slid it towards the boys on the counter. Jaden, Rakaia, and Syrus looked down at it, disappointed, but the latter was even more disappointed.

"I'm done for!" the blue-haired boy exclaimed, sadly. "I slept through my written test, now I'm gonna flunk my duel test 'cause I can't upgrade my deck!"

"So take the pack, Syrus." Jaden offered.

Syrus was taken aback by this kind gesture.

"Really?" he asked. "You'd give me the last pack that they have?"

"It's cool." replied Jaden.

"But what about you? You slept through the written test too. I mean, what if-"

Jaden's expression turned confused as Syrus continued.

"'What if' what?" he asked.

"You fail?" Syrus finished.

"No way, Sy! I may flunk now and then, but I never fail."

That didn't make Syrus lighten up any, and Rakaia took note of this, turning to face his more enthusiastic friend. He placed both of his hands on Jaden's shoulders and looked him dead in the eyes.

"Dude, tone it down on the cheerfulness." the dragon duelist pleaded with his friend. "For the sake of Little Boy Blue here at least."

Jaden just grinned in response, while Syrus raised his eyebrows at Rakaia, as if to say "Really?".

"Yoo-hoo!" a new female voice called. "Auto Club!"

The boys turned their heads to look at the second woman who joined the first one behind the counter. Jaden recognized her immediately.

"Oh, hey!" he greeted. "You work here, too?"

"Oh, no, I don't work here. I own here." the woman explained. "Cool, huh?"

"Nah, that's not cool! That's totally sweet!"

Syrus looked between them, confused now, and asked Jaden how he knew the woman.

"I think it was the carburetor." Jaden replied, smiling. "These are my pals, Syrus and Rakaia. And I'm Jaden."

"Well, you kids can call me Ms. Dorothy," the second woman greeted. "This is my co-worker here, Sadie. I've heard quite a lot about you three, and I'm very impressed with the rumors I've been hearing."

This earned a embarrassed chuckle from the trio of Slifer males, then Ms. Dorothy got down to business.

"Here, I have something for you!" she said, facing Jaden.

Jaden looked at her, confused, as did Rakaia and Syrus. Sadie even stared when she noticed Ms. Dorothy was laughing.

"Just call it a 'thank you' for helping me." Ms. Dorothy explained, smiling.

Elsewhere in the School-

"...then this guy shows up and takes all the new cards!" Topher exclaimed.

He had just finished telling Chazz why he and Conklin had returned empty-handed, much to their leader's disappointment. Conklin even found himself apologizing for their failure, and then Chazz finally spoke.

"You know what's sorry?" he asked. "You guys, that's what!"

He then turned to face them, irritated that he now had no new cards for himself.

"But that doesn't matter, 'cause not one duelist here can beat me, no matter what card he has!" the Obelisk Elitist announced.

"Unless that duelist happens to be Jaden Yuki." a new voice spoke.

The voice caused the three Obelisks to turn towards the staircase.

"Who's there?!" demanded Chazz.

At the top of the staircase stood a tall, thin man dressed in a black overcoat and a black military hat. He smiled down at Chazz, while Topher and Conklin stared at the man, as though he looked familiar.

"Someone who suspects you despise Jaden as much as I do." the man stated.

Then it hit Topher.

"That's the sticky fingers who took the rare cards!" he shouted.

"'Cards'? What cards?" the man asked, feigning innocence. "Oh, you mean these cards?!"

He opened his jacket, in a motion like he was about to flash someone, and inside his jacket were several cards pinned to the inside of it. The three boys stared in surprise, and Conklin subconsciously took a step forward.

"Whoa, now that's style!" he commented.

"Talk about having a card up your sleeve!" agreed Topher.

The tall man then began to chuckle, causing the three students to now appear confused.

"What's the matter, Chazz?" he asked. "Don't recognize me? How about now?!"

He tore off his coat and hat, revealing himself to be...

"Crowler!" the Obelisk students gasped.

Indeed it was Dr. Crowler, head of the Obelisk Blue Boys' Dorm. He was the one who swiped all of the new cards at the card shack.

"You know, you look better all covered up." declared Chazz.

The statement caused the teacher to fall over for a brief moment in shock, then he quickly got back up.

"Yes, well, I have a plan that'll make us all look better," Dr. Crowler explained, smugly. "And make Jaden Yuki look like the cut-rate duelist he truly is. I want you to be his opponent on his field test, and to use these rare cards to beat him."

As much as Chazz liked the idea to clobber Jaden in a duel, he reminded his professor that they were in different dorms and could not duel each other. The officials would not let them duel. However, the Ancient Gear duelist explained that he was the official in charge of pairing up the opponents for the field tests, meaning he'd make it happen.

"You just make sure that you use all these rare cards to put Jaden in his place in front of the entire Academy!" Dr. Crowler told Chazz.

"Sounds like fun," stated Chazz. "You've got yourself a duel."

"Now that's the attitude!"

Dr. Crowler then walked down towards his student and gave him the cards, and went on his way, until he stopped a few feet from where his three Obelisk students were standing.

"Oh, and boys, would you happen to know where Mr. Casimir is?" the professor asked.

"Yeah, he's working on his deck back in the library." replied Conklin. "Why do you ask?"

"Just setting up a couple more duels. He was all that was left, him and Ms. Renea."

Later that day- Gymnasium-

The students all reported to the gymnasium, where they'd be taking their field tests, and a small group of students would be dueling at a time. The other students waited in the bleachers, observing the duels while they waited for their turn. On the ground level, Rakaia was making his way onto the field, looking from one side to the other, looking for his opponent.

"Okay, where is this lady supposed to be?" he wondered aloud.

"Hey!" a voice called out to him.

Rakaia looked up to see a tall girl with long brown hair tied in pigtails and golden brown eyes looking at him. She wore a Slifer Red blazer, similar to his own jacket, but was open, revealing a blue shirt underneath it, a red skirt, which reached down below her kneecaps, and purple sneakers with blue shoelaces.

"Are you Rose Renea?" asked Rakaia.

"That'd be me, shorty." replied Rose. "I understand you specialize in dragons, right?"

Rakaia nodded, smiling proudly.

"That's unfortunate, as I wield a deck that can wipe the floor with their scaly butts." the girl stated.

Rakaia's smile faded away, quickly, as his opponent grinned at him.

"Oh, are you so sure now?!" he demanded, fuming.

"I know I can kick your can, small fry." Rose replied, calmly. "Now, shall we begin?"

* * *

So Rakaia is the first to duel, but who is the one called "Casimir" set up to duel against? And will Chazz succeed in defeating Jaden in their rematch? All will be revealed soon. In the next chapter, Rakaia faces off against a duelist who might prove to be a tough challenge for him. Please review after reading!

OCs can still be submitted, but two slots are all that's left. No more characters being related to other main characters, though. If you'd like, leave the bio and information of your OC in your review if you'd like.

Hailey Ryan is owned by Peach Wookiee, Luna Tenshi, and Crayus and Rakaia Meiyo are obviously owned by Rakaia The Dragon Duelist, Sega Rivera is owned by Sega herself, Will Rosen is owned by 15animefreak15, Laura is owned by Hyruleepona, Taryn and Jessi Yuki are owned by Dyusu. As for my OCs, Ken, Matt, Kenneth, Chris, Bella, and Ramon, they're owned by me and my Duel Club familia. Don't own the original series part of the plot, but I did tweak with it a bit. The main plot is owned by Kazuki Takahashi and everyone else who helped bring Yu-Gi-Oh! GX into this world. Robot Alchemic Drive is developed by Sandlot, and published by Enix, so I guess they own the game. The Meganite and Volgara cards are being posted up on Deviant Art.

New Disclaimer- Rose Renea is owned by maymay85985


	9. Rakaia's New Rival

Ch.9- Rakaia's New Rival-

Up in the bleachers, Jaden, Syrus, Bastion, and Matt watched as Rakaia finally approached his opponent, and Bastion's eyes narrowed upon seeing Rose.

"Well, this ought to be interesting." he said.

"What do you mean?" asked Syrus.

"You mean you don't know her? She does live in your dorm also."

The look that Syrus gave him told Bastion that he didn't know.

"Who is she?" asked Matt.

"That's Rose Renea, a transfer student from a top-ranked school called the Pendragon Institute." explained Bastion. "She was their top student, but transferred out sometime later."

"Why?" asked Syrus.

"That's something you'll have to ask her."

The three of them returned their attention to the duelists back down on the field. Rakaia and Rose had already activated their dueldisks, and drew their hands, now for the matter of deciding who was going first.

"Time to go to work!" Rose announced, drawing her card. "And to start, I activate my Spell card, Foolish Burial!"

"You're sending a monster to their death so soon?" asked Rakaia.

"For the moment."

Rose took a monster from her deck, and placed it and her used Spell in the Graveyard slot, then looked back at her hand. She took a few cards from it, then placed them each in a separate Spell and Trap Card slot on her dueldisk.

"Next up, I set three cards facedown, and that'll do it for me." she continued. "Now, show me what you've got, Smokestack."

Rakaia fumed from the snark, and drew his card. He observed the cards in his hand, and smiled.

_"Talk about a streak of excellent luck!"_ he thought. _"I'll beat this chick in one turn!"_

"Okay, you want to see what I've got?" asked Rakaia. "Here it comes! Lord of Dragons in Attack Mode!"

A man dressed in a gold and purple armor appeared onto the field, with his purple cape flowing in the wind. His armor resembled that of a dragon's skeleton, complete with a helmet styled to look like a dragon's head, and his boots resembling dragon feet. This monster had 1200 ATK pts..

"Next, I activate the Spell card Flute of the Summoning Dragon," Rakaia went on, holding up another card. "It doesn't work unless I have him on the field, and with it, I can bring out two Dragon-type monsters from my hand."

A golden flute, with the end shaped like a dragon's head, appeared in a golden light, and the Lord of D. grabbed it in one hand. The monster blew into it, and a second later, two cards in Rakaia's hand became enveloped in a bright yellow light, which shot out onto the field. They formed two different shapes, one a huge bipedal dragon with wings, the other a turtle-like dragon with a beak-like mouth, two arms and a tail, and smaller wings than the other monster. When the light faded, the dragons forms became fully revealed. One was a massive black dragon with red eyes, armed with 2400 ATK pts.. The other was a meteorite with a dark grayish-purple dragon's head sticking out of one end, one clawed arm sticking out of either side of it, a small tail sticking out the back, and two small black wings poking out of the top. This dragon was equipped with 1800 ATK pts..

"Is that all you got, Small Fry?" asked Rose. "I've met handbags scarier than that."

The two dragons on her opponent's side of the field fumed angrily at the insult. Back up in the bleachers, Alexis, Ken, Sega, and Hailey stood near the railing, watching the second year Slifer trashtalk.

"Come on, Lizard Boy," Sega called to Rakaia. "Show her what you've got!"

Ken and Alexis turned to her, with raised eyebrows.

"'Lizard Boy'?" repeated Alexis.

"He doesn't mind it when I make cracks towards him." Sega defended herself.

"Right." muttered Ken.

Back down below, Rakaia was preparing for his next move, but it would have to wait.

"Before I let you unleash your, ah, walking purses attack, I activate a Trap card!" Rose spoke, facing him. "The Pitch Black Power Stone Trap!"

The middle facedown card in front of her flipped face up, and the audience watches as three little spheres shot out of the card, then began rotating around a medium-sized black ball. The black sphere contained a pyramid-like object which floated upside down, and was covered in mystical markings.

"What are those?" asked Rakaia.

"Spell Counters, don't worry, they won't be used to hurt your monsters or your life points," explained Rose. "I'm using them for something else."

Up in with the Obelisk girls, Alexis' eyes widened in shock. She knew what she was going to do with them.

"Wait, I know this combo!" she gasped.

"And from the sound of it, Rakaia's in trouble." said Ken.

"In a manner of speaking."

Down below, Rakaia had declared an attack on his opponent.

"Meteor Dragon, go get her!" he shouted. "Comet Tackle!"

The purple dragon flew into the air and charged at Rose at high speed, but it's attack would never reach her.

"Prepare to meet your maker, Meiyo!" said Rose. "I activate my Miracle Restoring Trap!"

The field began to be enveloped in a fog, and a pedestal began to rise up from the center of Rose's field, with the black sphere on top of it. The two Counters were absorbed into the sphere which began to glow even brighter than before.

"This Trap allows me to Special Summon a monster from the Graveyard by vanquishing two of my Spell Counters." Rose stated, as she took a card from her Graveyard. "And I choose the one I sent there on my turn."

"Bring it on." challenged Rakaia. "I can take anything you can throw at me."

This caused Rose to smile, as she placed the card she brought back on her dueldisk. Rakaia's jaw dropped upon seeing a tall figure dressed in purple, silver, and gold trimmed medieval armor appear onto the field, armed with a massive sword. This monster had 2600 ATK pts..

"I had to say 'anything'..." griped Rakaia.

Bastion, Syrus, and Jaden watched the duel from above, amazed at the monster Rose had just played.

"That's Buster Blader." gasped Syrus.

"The enemy of all Dragons," Bastion added, staring down at the monster. "And since your friend uses them more than any other type, that spells trouble for him, because the Buster Blader gets 500 ATK pts. for each Dragon on his field and in the card graveyard."

Rakaia called for his Meteor Dragon to cancel his attack, and moved onto his second Main Phase. He looked at the cards in his hand, there wasn't anything there that could kill the Buster Blader for the moment. Also, to make matters worse, he couldn't change his Lord of D. to Defense Mode in order to protect his life points, and that'd mean he was open to taking a big hit.

"Any day now, Smokestack!" Rose called to him.

Rakaia slowly looked up to glare at her, irritated.

_"Okay, you know what, chick?"_ he thought. _"Eat Spell card!"_

He took one card out from his hand and slid it in a Spell and Trap Card slot on his dueldisk.

"I activate my Inferno Fire Blast!" said Rakaia. "With this, I can inflict 2400 pts. of damage to you as long as there's a Red Eyes Black Dragon on the field! And I've got one right here!"

The dark dragon growled ferociously at Rose and the Buster Blader, then opened his mouth, charging up his attack.

"Red Eyes, show her why you shouldn't rile a dragon!" commanded Rakaia. "Inferno Fire Blast!"

Red Eyes Black Dragon reared it's head back a little, then thrust it forward, releasing a massive fireball. It sailed over to Rose's side of the field and collided with her. Rose raised an arm to shield herself as it hit, and watched as the attack took 2400 of her points, leaving her with 1600 remaining.

"I think you've suffered enough for now." said Rakaia.

"You want to play, Small Fry?" asked Rose. "Then fine!"

She drew a card from her deck, then smiled.

"I discard a card from my hand, in order to equip this to my monster!" the Slifer female called.

She put the card she drew in her graveyard slot, then placed another card in her dueldisk. A pair of swords, smaller than Buster Blader's own sword, appeared in each of the Buster Blader's hands, as his old one vanished.

_"That's the Twin Swords of Flashing Light!" _Bastion thought, his eyebrows furrowing. _"She can attack twice with the Blader now! A very interesting combo, since while it takes away 500 of the equipped monster's ATK pts., Buster Blader will still gain 500 for each Dragon Rakaia has in his graveyard and on his field. With two, and minus the 500 that the Swords of Flashing Light takes away, that's 3100 total."_

"This is bad." Rakaia muttered, glaring at Rose's monster.

"Oh, and it's about to get a lot worse too." Rose spoke, holding up another card. "I use my Change of Heart, and I'll use it to take your Lord of Dragons."

Lord of D.'s eyes flashed red, and warped over to Rose's side of the field beside Buster Blader. Rakaia gulped, agreeing that this was going to get even worse.

"Now, Buster Blader, let's slay some dragons!" ordered Rose. "Double Dragon Sword Attack!"

The Buster Blader raced forward, and slashed away at the two dragons on his enemy's side of the field. Red Eyes Black Dragon and Meteor Dragon gave a roar of agony before exploding into minuscule little pixels, and depleting almost half of their master's points, leaving him with 2200.

"Now, Lord of Dragons, attack Rakaia directly!" shouted Rose.

Lord of D. immediately flew forward and kicked at his former owner, taking 1200 of his points. Rakaia winced from the attack, and shook it off. He now only had 1000 points left. Up in the box where the teachers were observing the Field Duels, Dr. Crowler was giggling madly.

_"Well done, Rose! Well done!" _he cheered inwardly. _"You've almost got him beat, just need to get one more attack in, and you've beaten that Slifer Slacker!"_

Elsewhere in the room, Chazz, Topher, and Conklin were observing the duel, and Chazz was smiling down at Rose. While she was a Slifer Red herself, Rose actually proved she was a brilliant duelist the way she was taking apart Rakaia's forces. She brought out the Buster Blader with a neat combo, and managed to wipe his field clean while nearly taking out all of his life points with it. Rose was really starting to impress him. Several feet away from them, Alexis, Ken, Sega, and Hailey were hoping Rakaia would find a way to turn this duel around.

"Geez, how unlucky can ya get?" asked Sega.

_"I know, kinda weird how he gets the one opponent here who..."_ Ken wondered to herself.

Then her thoughts were cut off, as something clicked. It was weird, Rakaia was dueling someone who was ultimately ready to take on his deck. Was this a coincidence? She pushed the thought aside, thinking it was nothing. Meanwhile, her friends from Slifer a few ways from where she was standing, Syrus noticed that Jaden wasn't worried for their friend.

"Jay, what's that look about?" he asked.

"I've got a feeling Rakaia's going to strike back even harder next turn." replied Jaden. "He just needs to bring out the right card."

"But it wouldn't matter how many Dragons he brings out, that Buster Blader will just keep getting stronger."

"There is one card that can change all that."

Syrus and Bastion could only stare at him, confused. Back on the field, Rakaia took a deep breath, and exhaled, trying to regain his composure.

_"Just keep cool." _he thought. _"You can beat her."_

"Before I end my turn, Rakaia, I think I'll activate my last Trap card now," said Rose. "My Destruct Potion!"

The last card on her field flipped up, and Lord of D. was sucked into the card, then exploded into millions of little pixels.

"I can destroy a monster on my side of the field, and gain life points equal to it's ATK strength." explained Rose. "And thanks to your Lord of Dragons, that's 1200 big ones."

Her life points went up to 2800, and Rakaia growled, knowing he was now completely defenseless. It was his turn now, and he needed to find a way to turn the tables on his girl. Rakaia looked down at his hand, all he had was his Spell Economics Spell card. It was useless in this situation, as it was only able to stop him from paying life points to play a Spell card.

_"This is it, Rakaia."_ the dragon duelist thought, placing his hand on his deck. _"Make it count!"_

"Here goes!" he shouted.

He drew his card, shutting his eyes tightly as he did so, then slowly cracked an eye open to look at what he drew. Both eyes flew open upon seeing what he drew. This was exactly what he needed.

"Yeah!" exclaimed Rakaia. "Exactly what I needed!"

Up above in the bleachers, Jaden, Syrus, and Bastion smirked upon hearing the shout.

"Give it to her, buddy!" cheered Jaden.

Rakaia grinned at Rose, and placed his new card onto his dueldisk.

"I activate my Dragon's Mirror!" he announced. "With this, I can remove monsters from my field or graveyard in order to Fusion Summon a Dragon monster!"

The Red Eyes Black Dragon and Meteor Dragon then appeared onto the field in a flash of red and blue light, then the two flew into the air, circling around one another before merging into a great purple light.

"I fuse my Meteor Dragon and my Red Eyes Black Dragon in order to bring out the Meteor Black Dragon!" shouted Rakaia.

The light faded as the new dragon touched down on to Rakaia's side of the field. It was a massive, bipedal, purple and orange beast with scarlet markings al over it's body. It's wings were huge and thin, resembling the blades of a scythe. This monster had 3500 ATK pts.. Rose's eyes widened a bit in shock, now this beast was stronger than her Buster Blader, especially since Rakaia removed the other two dragons from the game. The lack of Dragon-types decreased the Blader's ATK down to 2600, making him weaker than Rakaia's giant monster.

"Attack, now!" ordered Rakaia. "Dark Meteor Incineration!"

The Meteor Black Dragon opened it's mouth and fired a single massive fireball at Rose's Buster Blader. The Warrior-type monster gave a weak cry of defeat, as it was destroyed, by the attack. Rose grimaced from the aftereffect of the blast, and watched as her life points dropped down to 1900.

"That'll do for now." said Rakaia. "Next turn, I'm taking you down."

"That's what you think, Small Fry!" Rose said, drawing her card. "Because I've got something that'll put a wrench in your plans!"

She placed a card on her dueldisk, and a small thin sorcerer holding a purple and golden mirror in front of it's face appeared onto the field.

"Aw, great." groaned Rakaia. "A Copycat."

"So you know what it's capable of doing then." said Rose.

The sorcerer aimed it's mirror at the large dragon standing before it and it began to glow. The Copycat's ATK then became 3500 also, matching that of the Meteor Black Dragon.

"Unless you want to lose the only defense you've got, you won't attack." Rose warned her opponent.

Rakaia glared at her, knowing she was right. He was in a very tight spot, and this draw could very well be his last. With that thought, he looked back down at his deck. A bead of sweat dropped from his forehead, past the side of his nose, and down his chin. Uttering a soft, quick prayer, he drew his card to kick off his final turn. Then he looked at it, and smiled.

"Thank you, Powers That Be!" he cried, happily. "Rose, it looks like this duel's about to come to a close!"

Rose looked up at him, confused by what he meant. Up in the room where the staff were, Dr. Crowler pressed his face against the glass, also wondering what Rakaia meant by that, as were the other students. Rakaia then placed a card in his dueldisk, and a Spell card appeared on the field beside the Meteor Black Dragon.

"First, I play Spell Economics!" he said. "This prevents me from paying life points to activate a Spell card! Like this one for instance!"

He held up another card, and Rose's eyes widened in horror upon seeing it.

"Dimensional Fusion?!" she gasped.

"That's right, and it allows us to Special Summon monsters that are removed from play, and I've got two of them!" stated Rakaia. "Come back, Red Eyes Black Dragon and Meteor Dragon!"

The two Dragons returned onto the field in a massive whirlwind, roaring happily at being brought back to the playing field. Rakaia's face broke into a grin at seeing Rose looking very worried.

"Meteor Black Dragon, take out her Copycat!" he ordered. "Dark Meteor Incineration!"

The massive dragon fired another fireball at the smaller monster, and destroyed it. However, a light purple beam of light shot out from the fallen Spellcaster's mirror and struck the dragon, destroying it also. Rose gasped, realizing she now had a nearly empty field, with no monsters and no cards to save her, while Rakaia had two monsters that could still attack her.

"Red Eyes, finish the duel and finish off Rose's life points!" Rakaia shouted, thrusting his hand forward. "Inferno Fire Blast attack!"

Red Eyes Black Dragon opened it's mouth, generating another fireball, and shot it at Rose, depleting the rest of her life points. The crowd exploded into cheers, mostly coming from friends of the first year Slifer, as the cards and monsters disappeared from the field, and the two duelists' dueldisks deactivated. Rakaia walked over to Rose, and smiled, as he held out a hand to offer a handshake.

"Good game." he said.

Rose smiled back, and took it, shaking it eagerly.

"You do realize I'll be wanting a rematch, right?" she asked.

"Looking forward to it." replied Rakaia.

Up in the room where Dr. Crowler was standing, watching the duels, he was fuming at the sight of Rakaia winning his duel.

_"Curses! That's one strike!" _he thought, growling furiously. _"Oh, well, I'll get him next time. There's still Jaden and Ken left to take down, and their duels should be beginning soon."_

Speaking of Ken, she and Alexis watched as Sega and Hailey were cheering their friend's victory.

"Man, are all the duels going to be like that?" asked Ken.

"What's the matter, Ken?" Chazz's voice asked.

The four girls turned to see Chazz standing a few feet away from them, with his two cronies flanking either side of him.

"You aren't afraid, are you?" Chazz taunted her.

Ken made to charge at him, but Alexis wisely grabbed the back of her collar, halting her.

"I fear nothing!" the Meganite duelist declared. "Except needles, and cheerleaders. They're evil."

This caused the other three girls with her to slowly turn to stare at her.

"What's so evil about a cheerleader?" asked Hailey.

"I don't trust the way they cheer." Ken explained, in a matter-of-factly tone. "They could be plotting to take over the world."

"...Ken, has Bella been giving you coffee with Monster in it again?" asked Alexis.

"Not lately, no."

* * *

Rakaia's duel is completed, and he has won it. But Jaden and Ken aren't out of the clear yet, and the latter's duel is next. Find out what'll happen in the next chapter. In case I don't update by then: Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Feliz Navidad, Happy Hanukkah, and insert all other positive holiday greetings here!

Hailey Ryan is owned by Peach Wookiee, Luna Tenshi, and Crayus and Rakaia Meiyo are obviously owned by Rakaia The Dragon Duelist, Sega Rivera is owned by Sega herself, Will Rosen is owned by 15animefreak15, Laura is owned by Hyruleepona, Taryn and Jessi Yuki are owned by Dyusu, and finally Rose Renea is owned by maymay85985. As for my OCs, Ken, Matt, Kenneth, Chris, Bella, and Ramon, they're owned by me and my Duel Club familia. Don't own the original series part of the plot, but I did tweak with it a bit. The main plot is owned by Kazuki Takahashi and everyone else who helped bring Yu-Gi-Oh! GX into this world. Robot Alchemic Drive is developed by Sandlot, and published by Enix, so I guess they own the game. The Meganite and Volgara cards are being posted up on Deviant Art.

Side Note: For all those who have heard of, or played Dragon Quest, anyone get the "Small Fry" crack?


	10. Honor Code

Ch.10- Honor Code-

Rakaia and Rose headed back up to the bleachers, and walked over to where Jaden, Syrus, and Bastion were standing, and the trio turned to them.

"That was a great duel, guys!" said Jaden. "You two really rocked!"

"Thanks, Jay." Rakaia thanked him, grinning sheepishly.

Rose however stared at the E-Hero duelist for a moment, then she cracked an excited grin.

"Well, well, Jaden Yuki." she stated, laughing. "The rumors were true after all."

Jaden looked up at her, and smiled.

"How's it hanging, Rose?" he asked.

Bastion, Rakaia, Matt, and Syrus looked between the two Slifers, confused.

"Huh? What...?" Syrus began.

"Jaden took part in a tournament I was in a few years back." explained Rose. "Every tournament I was in, he was in it, and he always took first place."

Matt, Rakaia, and Syrus' jaws dropped, and they quickly turned to stare at Jaden. Jaden however, acted like it was no big deal, but then noticed their surprised staring.

"What?" he asked.

That was when Matt walked over to Rakaia's side, with a bottle of water in his hand.

"Hey, what'd I miss?" he asked.

"Where did you go?" asked Syrus.

"Watching a duel is thirsty work."

The P.A. system then came on, and Dr. Crowler's voice became heard over the speakers.

"Attention, please! Now that all of the test-takers of group C have finished with their field duels, would all students of group D please come on down for their test?" he called.

From the size of the smile growing on Jaden's face, it appeared that he was up now.

"Here I go!" the Slifer Red student said, pounding one fist in his free hand.

With that, he marched off to the arena, and his friends looked back out to the field to watch. As Jaden descended down to the floor level, he came across Ken, who was strapping on her dueldisk.

"Hey, Ken!" he greeted.

"Jaden, you're up, too?" asked Ken.

"Yeah! Good luck, pal!"

"Same to you, dude."

The two of them high-fived each other, and re-entered the gymnasium through the ground-level's doorway. Several of the test-takers had already begun pouring in and started dueling, but the two of them didn't know where their opponents were.

"So, who are you dueling?" asked Jaden.

"Don't know who he is," replied Ken. "But Chazz and his buddies seem to know him."

"I think we're the only two who doesn't even know the names of who we're dueling."

"Well, no matter who it is, let's agree to give it our best."

The two teens stopped upon seeing Dr. Crowler walking towards them, and knew straightaway that he was wanting to talk to them the way he was looking at them.

"Just the two I wanted to see." he said, smiling. "Ms. Warren, your opponent is ready, but Mr. Yuki, you'll have to wait a bit. There's been a change in plans."

Jaden looked at him, confused, then watched as his friend just gave a shrug, and walked to where she was instructed to be. The former was told to just stand at the field spot where he was to be dueling, which was right next to where Ken's duel was supposed to be. A boy taller than Jaden stood on the field to his left, and he was an Obelisk Blue student. This boy had dark brown hair that was neatly combed forward, and light brown eyes, and he wore an Obelisk Blue uniform similar to that of Chazz's outfit, but with blue jeans and black dress shoes. He looked like a polite, and well-liked model student.

"Hey, Ken, I found your opponent." Jaden called out to his friend.

"I'll give you a Scooby Snack later." Ken responded, with a lazy wave of her hand.

She entered the field, and stared down her opponent.

"You must be the dude Chazz was going on about." she said, looking him up and down. "Hope you like tackling someone armed with giant robots."

"They don't look so tough." the boy told her.

Up in the bleachers, Alexis and the other girls, now joined by Chazz, Topher, and Conklin were watching them, waiting for the duel to begin. By this time, Chris, Ramon, and Kenneth and the other girls had joined them.

"Hey, Bella!" Ramon greeted, cheerfully. "Where's Ken-One?"

Bella turned to them, replying to his question by pointing down at the field. The three boys quickly went to join them, and sure enough, Ken was beginning her duel with the mystery boy.

"Who's he?" asked Will.

"That's Tony Casimir, he was one of the top duelists back in our prep school, and now one of the top students here." replied Conklin. "He's never lost a duel since he began attending the Academy."

"Tony will own your buddy so badly she'll never show her face in this school again." added Topher.

The two began laughing loudly at the thought of it happening, only for Bella to glare at them.

"Bet she can win!" she declared.

"What makes you so sure that she can?" asked Chazz. "I've heard of her recent loss to Alexis, taken down by her own Meganite."

"My sister will win because she is an unpredictable knucklehead!"

Back down on the floor level, Ken buried her face in the inside part of her left elbow, and sneezed loudly.

_"Alright, who's talkin' about me this time?!"_ she wondered, shaking her head.

She shook the thoughts from her head, as she activated her dueldisk, and faced Tony, who had already activated his dueldisk. The duel began and they drew their hands.

"Allow me to kick things off," Ken said, drawing her card. "Volgara Laborer in Attack Mode!"

A giant thin mechanical extraterrestrial rose up onto the field, glaring down at Tony. It was a green and brown creature with spiked shoulder pads, two metallic wing-like accessories on the back, and it's hands resembled pincers. This monster had 1000 ATK pts.. Jaden stared up at the monster in awe, smiling excitedly.

"So that's a Volgara." he breathed.

"Pretty cool, huh, Jay?" Ken asked, noticing his excited look.

"It's sweet, that's what it is!"

"Can we get on with this?!" Tony asked, bored.

Ken rolled her eyes at him, feeling rather annoyed. Then she took another card from her hand and placed it in one of her Spell and Trap Card slots in her dueldisk.

"You're as impatient as my mother, you know that?" she snapped. "I'll set this card and let you go."

"Finally, I haven't got all day you know." Tony told her.

He drew his card and smiled, then took another card from his hand.

"I'll set a monster in Defense Mode, and end my turn there." he said, placing a card on his dueldisk.

A hologram of a Duel Monsters card appeared on the field in front of Tony in a sideways position, with it's back facing up. Ken shot her opponent an annoyed look and shook her head, as she drew her card.

"All that impatience just for that?" she muttered. "Good grief, dude."

Ken looked at the card she drew, which was Gllang the Castlekeep Meganite. She quickly re-checked her hand, and grinned. Then she slipped a card in her dueldisk, and a familiar Spell card appeared onto the field.

"I activate the Spell Meganite's Rising, and as long as this remains face-up on the field, I can remove three monsters in my graveyard or hand to bring out a Meganite." she explained. "And I've got a Meganite right here, with three monsters in my hand ready to remove!"

Three of the cards in her hand glowed intensely for a moment before vanishing, then Ken slapped the remaining card down on her dueldisk. Then large brown tank crashed down onto the field next to Volgara Laborer. The girls back in the bleachers, along with Ramon, Kenneth, and Chris, smiled when they saw this.

"Gllang the Castlekeep, engage Vertical Mode and prepare for combat!" commanded Ken.

Gllang gave a low hum and transformed from his vehicular Fortress Mode into his robotic Vertical Mode. He looked down at the Volgara giant beside him, and the two got into a fighting stance as they stared down Tony and his set monster.

"That is a big robot." said Jaden.

"He doesn't look like much." commented Tony.

"You might change your tune when he clobbers you!" Ken declared, thrusting her right fist forward. "But we'll start off with Volgara Laborer! Attack with Genocide Blast!"

The Volgara giant gave a roar and aimed it's left pincer at it's enemy's set card, and fired a scarlet blast of energy that plowed through the card, obliterating it. Ken smirked, and prepared to call Gllang into battle, but stopped when a jar-like object levitated off of the ground in the smoke, with an icy blue light shining from the opening of it. The smoke cleared, revealing the monster to be a Cyber Jar.

"Oh, crap." muttered Ken.

The Cyber Jar exploded as it released a blue laser blast that struck the two machine monsters on Ken's side of the field, destroying them. It created a gust of wind that caused Ken and Jaden to raise their arms to shield themselves from the effects of the blast.

"Now that the field's been cleared, we now get to draw five cards," Tony explained, as the gust settled. "Any monster level 4 and below, we can bring out onto the field."

The two duelists drew five cards from their deck, and examined them.

"I've got the Volgara Drill Laborer!" Ken stated, holding up one card. "And I'll play him in Attack Mode!"

A large robot resembling the Volgara Laborer appeared onto the field, but now instead of pincers, this version of the Laborer had drills attached to it's arms. This monster had 1600 ATK pts..

"Biofalcon in Attack Mode, and Stealth Bird in Defense Mode!" called Tony.

A mechanical falcon with a wind engine-like device on it's back appeared onto the field, with 1700 ATK pts, while an invisible bird appeared for a brief moment, then disappeared in a golden glow, and the back of it's card appeared onto the field. Ken reexamined her hand, and looked back at her Volgara monster.

_"The Drill Laborer has 1600 ATK pts., not strong enough to tangle with either of those monsters."_ she thought. _"Guess I'll have to bring out another big gun next chance I get."_

"I'll set three cards facedown, and end my turn." she announced, placing three cards into each of her Spell and Trap Card slots.

Tony then made to draw his card, and when doing so, he touched the edge of his sleeve. While doing that, he snuck a quick, casual glance at Ken, who was looking from her hand to her dueldisk, as if trying to work up a plan.

_"I'm going to defeat you, you little geek."_ Tony thought, smiling. _"With the help of your own monster."_

Tony drew his card, and his smile widened. Meanwhile, Jaden heard a familiar cry coming from his deck, and took it out to look at the Winged Kuriboh card.

_"'Cheating'?" _he repeated, mentally. _"What do you mean 'cheating'?"_

The furry little monster hooted again, and Jaden looked over at Tony's hand, and saw him examining the card he had just drawn. At the same time though, Tony was casually fixing his sleeve, Then something caught his eye. Upon squinting at his sleeve, he realized that there were cards hidden in his sleeve. He could see at least one card poking out a little above his wrist.

_"Sharp eye for a fluffy monster, Kuriboh!" _Jaden complimented his monster inwardly. _"Tony _is _cheating!"_

"Pay attention, Kenny girl, because this is where things are going to get interesting!" announced Tony. "I activate my Autonomous Action Unit, it's an Equip Spell that allows me to resurrect monsters from the graveyard by paying 1500 pts.."

"Okay, you have fun with that." said Ken.

"Oh, I forgot to mention one little detail, it has to be from _your _grave, meaning I can take one of your monsters. And I can't think of any better monster than your precious Gllang the Castlekeep!"

The graveyard slot in Ken's dueldisk glowed brightly, and a ray of purple light shot out of it. Ken, Jaden, and the rest of the audience watched in shock as Gllang emerged onto Tony's side of the field.

_"This Meganite-jacking crap is getting really old!"_ Ken ranted inwardly.

"I sacrifice your Meganite, in order to bring out my most powerful beast!" shouted Tony. "Prepare to meet your doom, Ken! For I summon the Tyrant Neptune!"

A surge of energy shot out from the ground where Gllang was standing, and he disappeared in a shower of pixels and a new, massive creature stood in his place. A green, four-legged, two-armed reptilian monster clad in silver armor, and armed with a deadly scythe clad in it's two claws. It's head resembled a dragon's, but was mostly shrouded in shadow, except for the right eye which seemed to glow. This monster had no ATK or DEF pts.. Ken stared at it for a while longer, until her face fell.

"I...fail to see the awesomeness of this card." she spoke.

Up in the bleachers, the audience was staring down at the duel, watching it intensely. Alexis' eyes narrowed as she gazed at the new monster Tony had played.

"I've heard tell about this card, it's supposed to be really powerful." she commented. "The Tyrant Neptune is a level 10 monster that can be brought out by Tributing one monster."

"And?" Sega pressed on.

"The Tyrant Neptune gains ATK and DEF equal to whoever was sacrificed to summon him."

The others stared at her, shocked, for a moment, before slowly looking back towards the duel. The Tyrant Neptune's ATK and DEF indeed shot up to 2200 and 3000 respectively, the same as Gllang's.

_"In the words of Hunter the Road Rover*****: 'I would not have predicted this.'"_ Ken thought, staring up at the monster.

"And since we're all in a hurry, Ken, I'll decimate your life points quickly." Tony told her. "Go, Neptune, and destroy her Volgara!"

The giant reptile monster raised the scythe over it's head, and slashed towards the Volgara monster.

"Whoa, hit the brakes, amigo," Ken stated, pressing a button on her dueldisk. "My Drill Laborer's not biting the dust yet! I play my Trap, Phantom Defense Mechanism! With this, I can negate the attack of one monster on the field!"

The Volgara disappeared briefly by warping into the air, out of sight, just as the blade of the scythe drew extremely close to hitting it. The sight of this shocked the audience even more.

"Where did it go?!" screeched Dr. Crowler.

"That's how the Phantom Defense Mechanism works in the video game." Bella explained to her friends. "Just wait, he'll be back."

True to her word, she and her friends watched as Volgara Drill Laborer warped behind the Tyrant Neptune. The two monsters then returned back to their respective sides of the field.

"That won't save you for long, you punk!" said Tony. "Biofalcon can still destroy that stupid toy robot of yours!"

Biofalcon gave a cry and flew into the air, then glided at the Volgara monster, and tore through him with it's claws, destroying it. Ken raised her arms to shield herself from the blast as it took out 100 of her life points, leaving her at 3900.

"Haha! Still in the game, baby!" cheered Ken.

"Aren't you forgetting someone?" asked Tony.

Ken didn't know what he was talking about, there were only two monsters in Attack Mode, and one set monster.

"Please, all you've got is Godzilla and Cyber Tweety there, and your Stealth Bird is-" she started.

Then she remembered what the Stealth Bird could do.

"Crap." she grumbled to herself.

The set card flipped face up, and a huge, light brown bird appeared briefly before disappearing into thin air. Ken then felt a strong blow to her torso, and the air leaving her chest, as her life points dropped by 1000, leaving her with 2900. The bird reappeared onto the field, before the card set again.

"Great Gibson Guitars, that's one tough bird." muttered Ken.

"It's your move." her opponent taunted her, as he set two cards in his Spell and Trap card slots.

"Alright! Time to roll!"

Ken drew her card, and looked at it, then pressed a button on her dueldisk, causing one of her facedowns to flip face-up. It was the Pot of Greed Spell card.

"I activate one of my facedowns, my Pot of Greed, and this allows me to draw two cards!" the Meganite duelist said.

She drew two cards, shattering the creepy green pot, and looked at them. Then she pressed a button, opening her Field Spell slot in her dueldisk.

"Next, I activate the Meganite's Battlefield Field Spell!" Ken continued, placing a card inside it. "With this, it'll be easier to bring out my Meganites."

The field changed to a city-like area, with a massive storm cloud hanging overhead. Ken looked back at her hand, and picked out another card.

"Next, I activate it's awesome effect, I can return three monsters that have been removed from play back to my graveyard, but they won't be staying for long, because I've got another Meganite in my hand ready to play!" she explained. "Introducing Meganite number two, the fastest of the team!"

She placed a card down on the center Monster card slot of her dueldisk, and a giant blue and white jet appeared onto the field.

"Air Dominator Laguiole, engage Vertical Mode!" commanded Ken. "It's time for battle!"

The jet gave a soft, mechanical hum and began to transform. The bottom part of the jet, which appeared to be the rockets and landing gear began to extend to form the legs and feet of the robot, then once it stood fully upward it's arms began to form from the sides of the jet, and then the head of the robot extended from the top back part of the vehicle, and the front of the jet separated to stand at either side of it's waist. This new monster had 2700 ATK pts..

"Sweet robot." Jaden commented with a whistle.

"And his special ability is just as cool." Ken stated, as she took out her deck. "When I bring him out, I can activate a Trap Card from my Deck. And I choose his favorite."

She took out a card, and placed it in another slot in her dueldisk. The hologram of the card appeared onto the field next to the Meganite's Rising card.

"What's that?" Tony questioned, though not really caring.

"It's Aerial Corroder, and I can only use it when Laguiole's on the field." explained Ken. "It allows me to decimate two cards on your field, and there are a couple I have in mind."

Laguiole took a half-step back, as the two halves of the jet plane's nose rotated upwards and outwards. Everyone watched in silence as electricity was generated in between the halves, and Tony watched as a bolt of electrical energy shot out from between them and strike his two weaker monsters. The monsters vanished in a mighty explosive blast, and created a gust of wind that blew around the field.

"I don't get it," asked Syrus. "Why didn't she take down his Tyrant Neptune?"

"Because Laguiole wouldn't get someone to play with." replied Rakaia.

"Big mistake on her part." Bastion pointed out.

His comment caused Rakaia, Matt, Syrus, and Rose to look at him, confused.

"Laguiole, attack his Neptune!" ordered Ken. "Gigantic Boomerang!"

Laguiole took the blade mounted from his shoulder and chucked it at the Tyrant Neptune. However, just moments before the attack hit, the colossal reptillian monster on Tony's side of the field switched into Defense Mode and struck back at the boomerang with it's scythe. Ken watched as the boomerang flew back and struck Laguiole in his chest, creating a deep gash in his armor, and gritted her teeth as sparks flew from her dueldisk, erasing 600 of her life points.

"The Tyrant Neptune has another power." explained Tony. "It wasn't just your little play toy's ATK and DEF my Tyrant Neptune copied, it was also his special ability."

Syrus then looked up at Matt and Bastion.

"And what was Gllang's special ability?" he asked.

"When a monster attacks Gllang, he switches to Defense Mode," Matt described off-handedly. "And if his DEF is higher than the attacking monster's ATK, not only does the attacker's owner receive damage equal to the difference, it gets doubled."

Rakaia looked from him back to the field. Ken was now at 2300, while Tony was still at 2500. Things were looking bad for her.

"Now I can see why she likes Gllang so much." he commented.

"Yeah, you'd have a tough time getting past that kind of defense." agreed Rose.

"There's still someone who could take him out." assured Matt. "All she needs is the right monster."

The five of them looked back out to the field.

"I end my turn here." said Ken.

"Then it's finally my move!" said Tony.

He prepared to draw, and moved his hand so that he would draw the card from his sleeve instead of his deck. Up in the viewing box, Dr. Crowler smiled gleefully to himself.

_"This is most delicious! Setting Tony Casimir as that little punk's delinquent was pure genius!"_ he thought, laughing excitably. _"The power of her best Meganite, it's own special ability, at his disposal! He's practically using her own monster against her. I mean, after all, nothing can be more humiliating to a duelist than being defeated by your own favorite monster's might!"_

"Something funny, Crowler?" asked Chancellor Sheppard.

This caused the Obelisk Blue headmaster to stop laughing and freeze up.

"Oh, just a scene from a TV show a student told me!" he said, embarrassedly. "I finally got what was so funny!"

Chancellor Sheppard shook his head, staring at him a moment longer, then turned away back to the duel. Meanwhile, Tony was still figuring out which card to take from his blazer sleeve next.

_"Which card should it be next?"_ he wondered to himself, grinning. _"Heavy Storm to terminate her backrow? Or my Dice Jar, so I can chance a shot of letting her be the one to destroy the rest of her life points? Oh, well, whatever card I draw, it'll certainly be enough to finish her off."_

He drew a card from his sleeve, then smiled upon seeing it.

"Yes, I activate System Down!" said Tony. "Yes, the ultimate enemy of all Machines!"

Ken and Jaden gulped as Laguiole powered down, and vanished in a pillar of light, and Ken's graveyard lit up in the same light. Cards flew out of the graveyard, and disappeared out of sight.

"System Down allows me to remove all Machines that you have on the field and in your grave from play, just by paying a thousand of my points." said Tony. "But that's not as bad as what's coming up next."

Jaden looked up to see the Tyrant Neptune raising it's scythe over it's head, and quickly turned to Ken.

"Watch out!" he warned his friend.

Ken looked up and saw the scythe being swung down over her head.

"Oh, no. Not again." she moaned.

The scythe connected with her, and knocked her onto the ground, taking 2200 of her life points with her, leaving her with 100. Ken pushed herself onto her hands and knees, groaning painfully, and looked up at her opponent.

_"You wanna play, boyo? Then let's play!"_ she thought.

Jaden watched as his friend slowly and steadily got back up onto her feet, then noticed someone standing beside him. It was a woman with long dark red hair tied back in a ponytail, green eyes hidden behind a pair of horn-rimmed glasses, and was dressed in an open Obelisk Blue blazer with a purple shirt underneath it, a pair of dark blue jeans, and brown work boots.

"That's gonna leave a mark." the woman commented.

"Who are you?" asked Jaden.

"Erin Lake, but you can call me 'Ms. Lake'. I work here with some of the special education students as a mentor. Matt Rock and Ken Warren are the two students I work with. Now, run me up to speed, who's winning?"

"Ken's down to 100 life points right now, and Tony is at 1500, and is cheating."

Ms. Lake quickly looked down at him, surprised.

"Are you serious?" she asked. "Kid, that is a serious accusation you're making."

"He's got cards hidden in his sleeve." replied Jaden. "Take a close look at his left arm."

Ms. Lake did so, and saw that Tony had left a card sticking out of his blazer sleeve partially.

"Jaden, if you knew about this, why not alert the teachers?" she asked.

"Because I wanted to see my friend kick his butt." Jaden answered, grinning. "I've got a feeling she'll win on her next turn."

"Oh, Ken!" Tony called, in a singsong voice.

Ken, who had gotten back up, looked up to see that Tony had activated one of his facedowns. It flipped face-up to reveal a Mystical Space Typhoon Spell card, this card had the capability to destroy a Spell or Trap card on her side of the field, and it seemed Tony had his sights set on one card in particular. A gust of wind picked up in the field, and the Meganite's Rising card began to glow with a red light before shattering completely.

_"A very good choice, Tony,"_ Dr. Crowler cheered inwardly. _"Without that Meganite's Rising card on the field, Ken can't bring out her Meganites anymore. And even if she could, there's not enough monsters to remove from play in order to summon them! She's finished!"_

"What was that you were saying?" Ms. Lake asked the Slifer beside her.

"The duel isn't over yet!" Jaden assured her. "Just watch!"

The two looked back out at the field as the wind settled down once again, however Ken wasn't looking the slightest bit worried, and one of her facedowns had flipped face-up.

"And what might that be?" asked Tony.

"Something that can only be played when my Meganite's Rising has been destroyed." replied Ken. "Master of the Meganites brings it back to my hand during the end of the turn in which it was destroyed."

Tony gulped, knowing what this could mean, and the audience let out a collective gasp. Ms. Lake looked down at Jaden, who smiled confidently at his friend. At the End Phase of Tony's turn, a green light shone in Ken's graveyard, and then ejected from it to form a card that appeared in Ken's hand.

"Time to finish this!" she shouted, drawing her card. "And first, I replay my Meganite's Rising, so I can bring out the third Meganite! I return three cards to my grave with my Field Spell's effect, then remove them from play once more to bring out the leader of my Meganites!"

"The leader?" repeated Rakaia.

"But who's tougher than Gllang?" asked Alexis.

"I just hope he's tough enough to beat Tony's Neptune." said Hailey.

A surge of aura appeared in the middle of Ken's field, and a giant robot began to emerge from the ground, not in a vehicle-like Fortress Mode like his two fellow Meganites. He was a red, white, and blue robot with a pair of horn-like accessories on each side of his head, and one on top, his armor was mostly blue and white, with red trims here and there, and he seemed to resemble a Power Ranger's Megazord. This Meganite was equipped with 4000 ATK.

"Everyone, I'd like you to meet the leader of the Meganites, Vavel, the Vertical Meganite!" said Ken.

"Hey, Ken, anyone ever tell you that Vavel looks like that one robot from that Mazinger Z anime?" Rakaia called down to her.

"Rakaia, please remain seated while the duel is in motion!"

Rakaia backed away from the railing a little, raising his hands in mock surrender, while Syrus, Matt, and Rose laughed at him.

"Apparently, a lot of people made that comparison." mused Bastion.

Suddenly, many cards began to return to Ken's deck, much to the surprise of the spectators, and Tony.

"One of Vavel's powers is that when he's been brought out into play, all the cards that were removed from play go back to the deck." Ken described, as she shuffled her deck. "I know, a bit of a setback, but I intend to finish this before the end of my turn."

"Hate to burst your bubble, kid, but I've still got my Tyrant Neptune in play, and he's got your stupid robot's power and strength." Tony reminded her.

"I know. Vavel, attack his Tyrant Neptune with Gravity Zero!"

Vavel charged forward at full speed, then crouched down in front of the Tyrant Neptune, just as it was changing to it's defensive position, and knocked it into the air with both fists when he stood up straight again. The reptile monster fell back down onto the ground, shattering upon contact, and kicking up another strong gust of wind. However, Tony lost no life points, but that didn't stop Ken from continuing her move.

"Now for the kill!" yelled Ken. "My final facedown card: 'Grand Charge Attack!'"

As her last facedown card flipped faceup, Vavel stood up straight, and powered up a little, clanking his fists together once.

"With this, as long as I have a monster with 'Meganite', 'Volgara', or 'Dantarion' in it's name, I can cut their ATK in half and the selected monster can attack one more time." Ken explained, smiling.

Tony froze up on the spot. His plan was going so perfect, how could he lose to some delinquent? Vavel raised an arm towards him, and four metallic fins shot out from each side of the robot's arm.

"Haven calling!" called Ken.

The fist and lower arm part of the robot ejected and shot out towards Tony like a cannon before striking him directly, taking away the remainder of his life points. After the hit had connected, the arm flew into the air, then sped back to reattach itself to Vavel's arm once again. The holograms disappeared as the Obelisk male fell to his knees, and the crowd cheered for Ken. Ken looked back down at her deck, and smiled at them.

"Well done, my friends, that was an excellent display of teamwork." she whispered to them.

As Jaden went to go congradulate his friend, Ms. Lake walked over to Tony, who drew the top card of his deck. It was a Fiber Jar.

"That little punk got lucky." Tony growled, furiously. "If not for that stupid Trap card, and her stupid robots,-"

"You lost because cheaters never prevail." Ms. Lake scolded him.

Tony could only gape as the teacher, now joined by Chancellor Sheppard, and Prof. Banner, who moments ago had walked onto into the bottom floor of the gym, grabbed his left arm and pulled cards out of his sleeve. Chancellor Sheppard's eyes narrowed upon seeing many rare cards in the spec. education teacher's hand, and his glare now turned on the student.

"You are to be brought into my office immediately, young man." he spoke, coldly. "We will discuss the issue after the field tests are completed."

The Chancellor marched back off of the field, as an equally disappointed Prof. Banner grabbed Tony by the arm and dragged him off, the latter fuming angrily. Dr. Crowler passed by them, frowning a little, as he walked over to where Ms. Lake, Jaden, and Ken were.

_"First Rose fails me, then this happens!"_ Dr. Crowler screamed mentally. _"I mean, all I ask is for is that those Slifer Slackers and that robo-geek in my dorm lose their duels and be put in their places! Is that too much to ask?!"_

"Oh, Jaden, my boy!" he greeted the E-Hero duelist. "Are you ready for your duel?"

Jaden's eyes lit up when he heard that.

"You bet!" he practically cheered in agreement. "So, who am I dueling? Is my opponent gonna be tough?"

"I got you one of the best ones I could find," his teacher replied. "I figured you'd love a good challenge, and so I picked one of the best first years in this school to duel you."

Dr. Crowler stepped to the side, allowing Jaden to see his oponent, and to his surprise, it was none other than Chazz Princeton.

* * *

Okay, felt this chapter was poorly done, but I wanted to include an OC cheater in the series, and I wanted to introduce two Meganites and a couple of Volgara monsters in this duel. I have the cards posted up on my Deviant Art account, look for rebelliouspunkx900, or just type in the name of the cards in the search box. Coming up next, we have Jaden and Chazz's duel. Please review after reading.

Hailey Ryan is owned by Peach Wookiee, Luna Tenshi, and Crayus and Rakaia Meiyo are obviously owned by Rakaia The Dragon Duelist, Sega Rivera is owned by Sega herself, Will Rosen is owned by 15animefreak15, Laura is owned by Hyruleepona, Taryn and Jessi Yuki are owned by Dyusu, and finally Rose Renea is owned by maymay85985. As for my OCs, Ken, Matt, Kenneth, Chris, Bella, and Ramon, they're owned by me and my Duel Club familia, along with Tony Casimir and Ms. Erin Lake. Don't own the original series part of the plot, but I did tweak with it a bit. The main plot is owned by Kazuki Takahashi and everyone else who helped bring Yu-Gi-Oh! GX into this world. Robot Alchemic Drive is developed by Sandlot, and published by Enix, so I guess they own the game. The Meganite and Volgara cards are being posted up on Deviant Art.

**_*_**Anyone ever hear of the Road Rovers? That's an awesome cartoon series that was on Cartoon Network once upon a time. Hunter, the golden retriever, was known for saying "I would not have predicted this", then later on "Yet another unexpected twist. Bummer."


	11. Little Things

Ch. 11- Little Things-

"I'm dueling an Obelisk?! And it's Chazz?!"

Jaden looked over at Dr. Crowler as Chazz took his place on the other side of the field, just a few feet away from where the Slifer student was standing. Dr. Crowler walked over to his two students, and stood between them.

"That's right, Jaden," he answered. "Since you always talk such a big game, I pulled some strings for you to get the challenge that you deserve. So, congradulations, you'll be dueling one of the top-ranked students in the school! What an honor! I certainly hope that you were able to snag a lot of today's rare cards so that your deck is up to snuff."

The thought of partaking in a duel where there would be no interruptions excited Jaden so much, that he didn't pick up on the sarcasm in his teacher's voice.

"What's wrong, aren't you going to thank me?" the Ancient Gear duelist asked.

Back with Jaden's roommates, Bastion, Matt, Rose, and now Ken and Ms. Lake, Syrus was now getting a bad feeling about the duel Dr. Crowler had set up. Two of his friends had faced opponents whose decks were equipped with cards that nearly annhilated them, and Jaden could find himself in a similar situation.

_"This is clearly a trap, much like the duels Rakaia and Ken were in,"_ Bastion thought, disliking the situation. _"Only a cavalier fool would agree to this duel."_

However, much to Bastion's surprise, Jaden wasn't afraid of any challenge. He had agreed to it immediately.

"Alright, Chazz, get your game on!" Jaden declared, bravely. "Let's finish what we started at Obelisk Arena!"

Dr. Crowler didn't care much about what he meant, but rolled with it anyway.

"Indeed, in front of the whole school, too," he said. "Where everyone can watch."

"Yeah, watch you get slammed by me!" agreed Chazz.

Jaden growled upon hearing that, and they activated their dueldisks, as Dr. Crowler rushed off of the field. He headed back to the viewing box to watch the duel, wanting to get a good seat for his crushing defeat.

"Duel!" the two students shouted.

"No excuses this time, Chazz!" barked Jaden.

"Bring it, Slifer Slacker!" challenged Chazz.

"Oh, it is brought!"

Jaden kicked off the duel with his turn, and drew a card. It was the Winged Kuriboh.

"Well, if it isn't my favorite furry friend!" said Jaden.

_"Kuriboh, you're in for a treat! We're about to rain down some serious skills on Chazz!"_ he thought, grinning. _"Check it!"_

Jaden put the card he drew in his hand, and picked out another one, slapping it down onto his dueldisk.

"You remember this guy, don't you, Chazz?" he asked. "From our first match? Elemental Hero Clayman!"

The clay-costumed hero emerged onto the field and knelt into a defensive position, with his arms crossed in front of him.

"He'd like to get reacquainted." Jaden finished.

"Not after he sees what I got for him." Chazz retorted, laughing. "Don't think for a second that oversized pile of pebbles has a chance against me, Jaden! Or against this!"

He drew his card, and smiled when he saw what he drew.

_"'preciate the rare card, Crowler!"_ he thanked his teacher mentally.

"Fresh off the presses, meet Magical Mallet!" the Obelisk teen said, as the card appeared onto the field via hologram.

"What's that?" asked Jaden.

"A redo. All the cards in my hand that I don't want, I put back in my deck, then I shuffle and redraw."

Chazz picked out four cards, and prepared to add them in his deck once again.

"Pretty cool, don't you think?" he asked.

Up in the bleachers, the students stared in shock that Chazz was able to draw a rare card on the first draw, and one as handy as the Magical Mallet.

"How?!" demanded Syrus. "A rare card on the first draw?!"

"And a very dangerous one at that." said Bastion. "Now Chazz, will essentially be able to pick exactly which cards he wants and which he doesn't."

Chazz did as the card's effect was described, and drew again.

"And I haven't gotten to the best part!" he stated, revealing he drew Magical Mallet again. "You see, Jaden? I got to reshuffle Magical Mallet, too, so if I draw it again, like I just did, I can play it again and again!"

Chazz used the card again, and then when he drew once more after shuffling the select cards into his deck, he finally came across a card he wanted.

"And that comes in handy when I'm looking for this!" he said. "V-Tiger Jet! Sharpen your claws for Attack Mode!"

Chazz placed the card down on his dueldisk, and a yellow and green tiger-like machine, one that resembled a Zord from the Power Rangers, appeared onto the field with a mighty roar. It's hind legs were fashioned into jet engines, which began powering up slowly. This monster had 1600 ATK pts.. However, Chazz had yet to finish his turn, because he was holding up another card ready to use.

"And there's a lot more where that came from!" he continued, activating it. "Check out the magic of Frontline Base! It lets me summon another level 4 or below monster this turn, and I have just the one! I play the W-Wing Catapult in Attack Mode!"

A blue spaceship, about the same size as the V-Tiger Jet appeared onto the field beside it's comrade, and began powering up. This monster had 1300 ATK.

"Gentlemen, start your engines!" Chazz ordered his monsters.

The blue aerial machine flew into the air at high speed, and then back towards it's owner's side of the field, as the V-Tiger Jet flew into the air also, now fully starting up. When Chazz commanded for the monster to merge, the blue ship began separating a little and the Tiger Jet attached itself to the top of it, as it's hind legs rotated a little to help fit easier, creating a monster with 2000 ATK.

"Alright, the VW-Tiger Catapult!" cheered Chazz.

Jaden stared at the monster, totally surprised, then braced himself for what Chazz had planned next.

"But wait, I'm not done yet!" the latter announced, grinning. "'Cause he still has his special ability!"

"That's not good." said Jaden.

"Give me a break!" Syrus groaned, exhasperated. "I mean, is this guy's turn gonna end sometime this century?!"

"Either the guy loves to show off, or he loves to talk." Rakaia commented, with a shrug.

Beside him, Ken, who along with Ms. Lake, both of whom had joined the small group in watching the duel from the bleachers, shook her head as she stared back at Chazz.

_"Dr. Crowler loves to talk, Rakaia."_ she thought. _"This dude's just showing off."_

Chazz discarded one card from his hand, and Clayman suddenly stood up straight, going into Attack Mode.

"By sending one card to the graveyard, I can force one of your monsters into Attack Mode!" he explained. "So now, after this Heat Seeker Blitz from my Tiger Catapult, your life points are toast!"

The Union-formed Machine monster shot out several missiles at the Elemental Hero, and destroyed him upon contact, decimating 1200 of Jaden's points, leaving him with 2800. Up in the bleachers, Dr. Crowler was ecstatic about the move Chazz played on his first turn.

"My goodness, well I guess Jaden can't play with the big boys after all!" he exclaimed, a little too cheerfully. "I guess he's not as good as everyone thinks!"

Chancellor Sheppard, who was standing beside him, ignored him, and focused on the duel to watch what Jaden would do next. Chazz placed a card into the Spell and Trap card slot on the left side of his Frontline Base Spell.

"I'll finish up with one card facedown." he concluded.

"Yeah, go ahead and finish up, 'cause I'm just getting warmed up!" Jaden shot back. "Speaking of, here's a guy who can really turn up the heat!"

He drew his card, and placed a card from his hand onto the dueldisk.

"Elemental Hero Sparkman in Defense Mode!" called Jaden.

A surge of electricity formed on the field in front of him, and the electrical-elemental warrior rose up onto the field before kneeling down in a defensive position with 1400 DEF.

"And I'll throw down a facedown!" Jaden finished, setting a card facedown.

Up in the bleachers, Bastion stared down at the duel, not liking this situation.

"Not much else he can do with all those rares Chazz seems to have." he said.

"It's just not fair." Syrus complained, a little uneasy himself. "I mean, why are our friends in duels with the odds stacked against them?"

Matt then turned to Rakaia and Ken.

"You two get on karma's bad side lately?" he asked.

His question was answered with a couple of glares sent from his friends that told him "Not funny". Matt nodded, understanding, and went back to watching the duel. Meanwhile, Alexis and the other Obelisks were thinking the same thing as Bastion and Syrus were.

_"This is a complete mismatch!"_ she thought to herself. _"How can Jaden fight back when he doesn't know what he's fighting?!"_

_"Hang in there, bro."_ Taryn cheered for her brother mentally.

Down below on the ground level, Chazz had begun his turn.

"Ready for round two, you Slifer Slime?" he taunted his opponent. "Well, X-Head Cannon is! And thanks to Frontline's magic, so is Z-Metal Tank!"

A pair of machines appeared onto the field next to the VW-Tiger Catapult. The first was a yellow and purple robot with a long cannon on each shoulder, arms equipped with fang-shaped accessories, and instead of legs, the monster's torso was attached to a mace-like device. The second monster was a yellow and pale green robot with pincers on each arm, and one eye in the center of it's body. The first monster had 1800 ATK, and the second had 1500 ATK.

"No way!" said Jaden.

In the bleachers, something clicked in Syrus' brain. He had heard of these kinds of monsters, and it all made sense now.

"'X' and 'Z'?!" he repeated. "Oh man, that can only mean one thing!"

"Yeah, and it's bad news!" agreed Ms. Lake.

"I just hope he doesn't have-" Rose began.

But before she could finish, Chazz activated his facedown card, one that was well-known by the duelists and the teachers.

"Now I play my facedown card, Call of the Haunted!" he shouted. "In case you slept through that class as well, it allows me to bring back a monster from my graveyard, and I choose-"

A robotic red dragon appeared onto the field, roaring ferociously, as it joined it's three fellow machines. Syrus stared at the beast in shock.

"It's him!" he exclaimed.

"He has it!" added Bastion.

"This just got worse!" said Rose.

Chazz grinned as he prepared for his next move.

"That's right, Y-Dragon Head! It's what I discarded with my Catapult's special ability!" he announced. "And now I can combine them all to create XYZ-Dragon Cannon!"

The three new Union monsters combined, with the X-Head Cannon attached to the top of the Y-Dragon Head, and the Y-Dragon Head detaching it's wings before docking onto the Z-Metal Tank. This monster had 2800 ATK. Up in the bleachers, the audience gasped in surprise at the move Chazz just played.

"Now Chazz has two monsters out with over 2000 ATK pts. each!" Bastion pointed out.

Jaden gaped at the two monsters before him, both of which seemed to be glaring at him. Unfortunately, Chazz had yet to finish.

"But wait, Jaden, there's more!" declared Chazz. "Actually, less. Sure, they say two's better than one, but I have to disagree. Especially when the one in question is the ultimate V-Z Dragon Catapult Cannon!"

The two bigger machines leapt into the air, and started disassembling themselves. The W-Wing Catapult had formed into the monster's legs, with the Y-Dragon Head as it's wings and lower torso, the Z-Metal Tank as the arms, the X-Head Cannon as the upper torso, and finally the V-Tiger Jet as the head. The five Union monsters formed to create a massive giant robot with 3000 ATK pts.. Most of the people in the audience stared up at the new machine in awe.

"Now that is a giant robot." said Rakaia.

Syrus and Bastion saw that Ken was slowly turning to stare at him with one eyebrow raised, as if offended by what he said, and wisely took a step back. Back with the duel, Chazz was preparing to take down Jaden in his next move.

"Makes your Sparkman look like a heap of spark plugs, huh?" he asked. "Or at least it did."

A small whirlwind appeared where the Elemental Hero was kneeling, and Sparkman vanished within it without a trace. Jaden stared at where his monster was, confused as to where he went.

"Oh, I'm sorry, didn't I mention V-Z's special ability?" his opponent asked. "He allows me to remove one card from your side of the field once per turn."

Chazz began to laugh at the upperhand his new monster allowed him to gain on the E-Hero duelist.

"And if you think that's impressive, just wait 'til you see his attack!" he announced, pointing at Jaden. "An attack that will strike your life points directly!"

"Don't think so, Chazz, I have a Trap!" called Jaden. "A Hero Emerges!"

His facedown card flipped face-up, much to Dr. Crowler's dismay, and to Chazz's confusion.

"'A Hero' what?" he repeated.

"'Emerges', as in 'emerges onto the field!" described Jaden. "Because now you have to randomly choose from my hand, and if it's a monster, I get to play it!"

He then held up his hand for Chazz to pick, and the latter chose the far right. Jaden smiled when Chazz made his decision, which meant that was a bad choice for Chazz. He took the card from his hand, and placed it down on his dueldisk.

"Sweet!" exclaimed Jaden. "Elemental Hero Burstinatix! I'll play her in Defense Mode!"

The female Elemental Hero appeared onto the field in a golden light, and knelt into the same defensive position that her two teammates stood in previously. Her DEF was 1100.

"That's what you think, you Slifer Slacker!" interrupted Chazz. "When Dragon Catapult Cannon attacks, I get to choose your monster's mode! And you know what? I choose Attack Mode, which means not only will she be zapped,-"

As Burstinatrix rose up into a standing position, the V-Z Dragon Catapult Cannon fired a couple of powerful laser bursts at her, decimating her, along with 1800 of Jaden's life points.

"-but your life points will, too!" finished Chazz.

Jaden's friends looked on as the Slifer Red was left with nothing on his field and just 1000 life points in his name, while Dr. Crowler laughed excitedly at the corner Chazz put Jaden in.

"Aw, what's the matter, Jaden?" Chazz asked, mockingly. "Having some test anxiety? Don't worry, it'll be over soon."

"No way, Chazz! I got a whole army of vicious monsters in my deck just waiting to get at you!" Jaden retorted, now looking serious. "This isn't over, it's just barely starting! My draw!"

He drew his card, then glanced down at it. Upon seeing it, Jaden's mind wandered back to earlier that day. Back to when he, Syrus, and Rakaia were at the card shop, and Ms. Dorothy said she had something for Jaden. She explained that she had held onto some cards in the case of someone performing an act of kindness, like Jaden himself did when he helped her with her vehicle a while before that moment. Ms. Dorothy handed Jaden a pack of cards, much to his surprise, and among the new cards he received, was this particular card he had just drawn. Back to the present now, Jaden looked down at his Winged Kuriboh card.

"What do you think, Winged Kuriboh?" he asked his little friend.

The fluffy little monster gave a soft hoot, which apparently meant "yes" to Jaden.

"Alright, if you say so." said Jaden. "Let's do it!"

He took the card containing the Winged Kuriboh from his hand, and placed it down onto his dueldisk.

"I summon Winged Kuriboh in Defense Mode!" he announced.

The exact moment that the monster appeared onto the field, several girls in the gym had broken out into squeals and "awws" upon seeing the little ball of adorable fluff. Bastion, Matt, Syrus, Rakaia, and Ken had to back away a little when the girls nearby them began to cheer and squeal with excitement.

"I thought this was a duel, not a One Direction concert!" said Bastion.

"Bastion, if this was a One Direction concert, it'd be louder!" Rose reminded him.

"And I'll throw down a facedown, too." Jaden concluded, as he set one card facedown behind the Winged Kuriboh. "That's it."

Syrus stared down at him, looking a bit down.

"'That's it'? That's all?" he asked. "But all he's been playing was defense!"

"Hey, that Winged Kuriboh helped set up the stage for his win in the duel against Dr. Crowler, right?" Matt pointed out to him. "That might be his plan this time."

"Matt's right, think positive, dude!" Ken agreed, grinning.

Back with their Obelisk friends, they were watching with intent gazes as Chazz begun his turn. Ramon noticed that Alexis was holding her breath in all the suspense, and clapped a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey." he called out to her. "Breathe. Jaden will be fine."

Alexis nodded in agreement, and looked back out at the field, hoping Jaden knew what he was doing.

"All done, huh? Good, 'cause I can cook that Kuriboh, and I like mine well done!" said Chazz. "There's about to be a fried furball on the field, you loser!"

"You don't scare me!" Jaden retorted.

"No big deal! I don't have to, that's _his_ job!"

Chazz sent his monster to attack the Winged Kuriboh, and Jaden stood there, calmly, waiting for the attack.

"Once that Kuriboh's gone, Jaden will be completely defenseless!" yelped Syrus.

As the blast drew nearer, Jaden decided that it was time to act.

"Alright, secret weapon time." he said, taking his last two cards from his hand. "I sacrifice two cards, and activate-"

His facedown card flipped face-up to reveal a Spell card. Chazz didn't know what it was, but Dr. Crowler sure did, as he wondered aloud where Jaden got such a powerful card. The card shot out a burst of pure white light that hit the Winged Kuriboh, and within seconds formed a pair of giant, angelic wings and a golden monster head and a tail accessory.

"Transcendant Wings!" Jaden finished, as the card's effect completed transforming his monster.

The Dragon Catapult Cannon's laser blasts struck the Winged Kuriboh, which had already finished transforming before the attack connected.

"It can't be!" yelled Chazz.

"Oh, it be, Transcendant Wings has evolved Winged Kuriboh into a Level 10 monster!" explained Jaden. "And it gets better too, by sacrificing himself, Kuriboh destroys all monsters in Attack Mode, and deflects their ATK pts. back as damage to you!"

He then gave the command for his upgraded Kuriboh to use his new effect, and the Winged Kuriboh became enveloped in a energy sphere with small sparks of electricity surrounding it, then within seconds, the sphere exploded. A huge beam of light shot back at the Dragon Catapult Cannon, obliterating it, and 3000 of Chazz's life points.

"Lucky punk." the Obelisk student growled.

"'Lucky'?" Jaden repeated. "Nah, I just happen to have a soft spot for old ladies, but not for you, Chazz. And that's too bad, 'cause with a thousand life points a piece, and my turn coming up, all I need is the right monster, and the right draw, and you'll be finished!"

He went to draw his card, and to everyone's surprise and shock, Jaden had drawn just what he needed.

"Yeah! Elemental Hero Avian!" he cheered. "Attack!"

Chazz could only watch as the green, winged hero drew closer and closer, until he slashed at the duelist with his claws, eliminating the last of his life points. Chazz fell to his knees, and the crowd exploded into cheers, as Jaden reigned victorious.

"Jaden did it!" cheered Syrus.

"Way to go, kid!" Ms. Lake called down to the student. "That was an awesome performance!"

Dr. Crowler however did not feel as impressed as his colleague, as he was disappointed with the loss Jaden had handed yet another of his beloved Obelisks.

"Impossible! Not with all the rare cards I gave Chazz! This simply can't be!" he complained.

This outburst caused his superior, Chancellor Sheppard, to turn to look at him.

"'Rare cards'?" he questioned him. "What exactly are you talking about, Crowler?"

Seeing as he was about to get himself in trouble, Dr. Crowler quickly excused himself to start grading papers. Chancellor Sheppard looked back out the window of the box, and watched as several of Jaden's friends headed down to congradulate him. He then activated the microphone, and began to speak.

"That was well played, Jaden," he spoke. "Not in the history of our revered Academy has a Slifer Red ever dueled an Obelisk during these exams. Jaden, not only did you hold your own, but you won. Your courage against overwhelming odds is inspiring, it is with great pride that I grant you promotion to Ra Yellow! Good job!"

Jaden smiled as the crowd cheered for him again, and Syrus couldn't help but feel incredibly proud of his friend for advancing to the next dorm. Bastion and Matt stepped forward to congradulate their friend, offering to be the first to welcome him into the Ra Yellow dorm. While most of the other students cheered for Jaden, Syrus couldn't help but feel a little sad about his best friend being promoted.

_"Aw, man, I knew Jaden wouldn't stay a Slifer for long."_ he thought. _"I hate to see him go, but I know it's for the best. Hopefully, we can still be friends at least."_

Later that day- Slifer Red Dorm- Syrus, Chumley, and Rakaia's room-

"How's this, 'roommate wanted, no one named "Chazz", rare cards a plus'-"

Chumley looked down over his bunk bed to see that Syrus was not listening, and neither was Rakaia, who felt a little bad for their roommate and friend.

"Hey, if you're not gonna help with this, Sy, you should do something constructive." said Chumley. "Like make me a grilled cheese."

"Chum, be nice." Rakaia told him.

"I just thought he'd say goodbye to us," sighed Syrus. "That's all I wanted."

As if on cue, the door opened, and Jaden walked inside, as cheerful as ever.

"Hey, what's up?" he greeted.

"Oh, hey, Jay!" Rakaia responded, with a wave.

"Jaden?!" Syrus yelped, surprised. "Why are you here?!

"I wanted to say congrats on passing your field test," replied Jaden. "Oh, and, uh, also, in case you've forgotten, I live here!"

Syrus, Chumley, and Rakaia stared at him as he explained that while the dorm was nice, it didn't feel the same without his friends from Slifer there with him.

"Ya hear that, Sy?" asked Rakaia. "Now there's no need to get all-"

"Oh, really?!" sobbed Syrus.

Rakaia and Chumley watched as the smaller boy hugged Jaden, crying tears of joy, and looked at each other.

"I've never seen a guy so little be so emotional." commented Rakaia.

"The waterworks will cease soon enough." Chumley assured him.

The two of them looked back towards Syrus and Jaden, the former asking for another hug.

"How soon are we talking?" asked Rakaia.

* * *

So that ends episode 4. Will start the next chapter immediately, please read and review.

Hailey Ryan is owned by Peach Wookiee, Luna Tenshi, and Crayus and Rakaia Meiyo are obviously owned by Rakaia The Dragon Duelist, Sega Rivera is owned by Sega herself, Will Rosen is owned by 15animefreak15, Laura is owned by Hyruleepona, Taryn and Jessi Yuki are owned by Dyusu, and finally Rose Renea is owned by maymay85985. As for my OCs, Ken, Matt, Kenneth, Chris, Bella, and Ramon, they're owned by me and my Duel Club familia, along with Tony Casimir and Ms. Erin Lake. Don't own the original series part of the plot, but I did tweak with it a bit. The main plot is owned by Kazuki Takahashi and everyone else who helped bring Yu-Gi-Oh! GX into this world. Robot Alchemic Drive is developed by Sandlot, and published by Enix, so I guess they own the game. The Meganite and Volgara cards are being posted up on Deviant Art.


	12. Hiking to the Abandoned Dorm

Ch.12- Hiking to the Abandoned Dorm-

One night- Abandoned Dorm-

It was a cold dark night at Duel Academy Island, nearly a week since the test duels, and the light of a full moon shone it's light over a dark, old dorm that rested in the forest. Standing before the gates to it was Alexis, who looked up at it, as if she was a woman on a mission. She took several steps towards one of the brick pillars, and set down a rose that she had been holding in her hand for a long moment now. After placing the rose in front of the pillar, she stood back up straight to gaze back at the dorm, as if saddened by something.

_"Be at peace, brother."_ she mentally prayed. _"Wherever you are."_

Meanwhile- Slifer Red Dorm- Cafeteria-

"You sure you can't come join us, Ken?" asked Rakaia.

"Sorry, amigo, I've kinda got plans of my own tonight." replied Ken. "Ms. Lake's tutoring me tonight, and I kinda need it. Maybe next time, okay?"

"Alright, your loss."

Rakaia hung up on his PDA, and looked over at his three roommates.

"Ken said she can't make it tonight, but Rose is going to be on her way in about a few minutes." he told them. "And Matt's helping Bastion with something."

"So, it looks like it's just us four and Rose tonight then." Jaden said, sitting back in his seat. "So, Syrus, continue, please?"

"Okay, so, underneath the full moon, I see a path to a cavern that seems...abandoned." Syrus continued, his gaze intent.

Jaden, Chumley, and Rakaia looked back at him, waiting for him to continue.

"Oh, really?" asked Jaden. "Then what?"

"Then at the back of the cavern, where I see a mysterious lake," Syrus went on. "I go in to look very carefully, and under just the right angle of light, at the very bottom of the lake, beyond my reflection, I see a rare and powerful card!"

"What kind?" asked Rakaia.

"Ssh!" Jaden shushed him.

Syrus continued his story, saying that he tried to get it, but when he reached in to grab it, an arm shot out and grabbed him instead. It began dragging him underwater, the blue-haired boy screaming as he went under the lake. Jaden and Rakaia looked at one another as their roommate began screaming in fear, as if he really was being pulled underwater.

"Not the water, anything but the water!" the smaller teen yelled.

"Aw, water's not so scary." Jaden told him.

"...Dirty swamp water?"

Syrus then let out a sigh of depression. He had failed to scare his friends.

"Aw, you're right, only a chump would be scared of that." he muttered.

Rakaia heard the sound of whimpering from behind him, and turned around to see Chumley shaking in fear, then sweatdropped. Jaden then picked up a Level 4 monster that was drawn from the deck in front of him.

"Still, good story." he spoke. "Mid-level scares for a mid-level card."

The E-Hero duelist placed the card down on the side once again, and placed his hand on the deck of cards. He hoped to draw a high-levelled card, but drew the Level 1 Sinister Serpent, much to his dismay.

"Aw, you lucked out," groaned Syrus. "You hardly get to scare us at all with that low card."

Rakaia stood with his back against the wall, and his arms crossed over his chest, while Chumley sat back in his seat.

"Go on, Jay. Tell us the wimpiest scary story you've got." Rakaia encouraged his friend.

"Alright, well I think I have a story that'll do the trick!" Jaden started, as he rested his face on his hands. "Well, it's more like a memory. Back when I was a little kid, I used to hear sounds, but I'd only hear them real late at night."

His three roommates stared at him in awe, waiting for him to go on. Jaden smiled as he continued, the memory still fresh in his mind. The soft cries still echoing in his ears.

"I'd think I was dreaming, but then, they sounded like voices, but not ones I recognized." he continued. "I would go to check it out, but every time I did, there was nothing, nothing there at all. Except my cards."

Syrus and Chumley stared at their friend, intently, while Rakaia's gaze narrowed a little at him.

"And?" Syrus pressed on.

"And that's the end of the story." Jaden finished, casually.

Rakaia couldn't help but laugh as Syrus and Chumley groaned, disappointed.

"But wanna hear something strange?" asked Jaden. "Lately, I've started hearing them again."

Rakaia stared down at him again, wondering if what Jaden said was true. He'd never know that night though, because the suspense was broken by the sound of maniacal laughter. Laughter which belonged to one Prof. Banner, who was standing behind them with his pet cat, Pharaoh, in his arms.

"Hey, I want to join in on the Fright Fest!" he spoke, smiling goodnaturedly.

His sudden presence made Syrus and Chumley jump out of their seats, a little startled, while Rakaia fell to the ground on his butt.

"I think you just did!" yelped Syrus.

"We're kinda on the edge of our seats here!" Jaden threw in.

"Or at least we were!"

Rakaia looked back behind him to see Chumley in the back of the room, clinging to the wall.

"How do you keep getting back there so fast?!" he asked.

Syrus returned to his seat, now able to breathe easy again.

"Well since you're here now, why don't you draw a card?" he offered. "The tougher it is, the scarier your story has to be."

"Oh, well, that certainly sounds easy enough." said Prof. Banner. "Let's see here."

He bent down a little to draw a card, and the card he drew was the Level 12 Five-Headed Dragon.

"Whoa, that's a Level 12 monster!" gasped Jaden.

"Yeah, I think I'm gonna go to bed now." Syrus said, as he prepared to leave.

"What is wrong?" Prof. Banner asked, laughing. "Don't you want to hear about the Abandoned Dorm at the end of the island?"

Jaden looked up at him, curious, and listened eagerly. Rakaia sat across from him, next to Syrus, also interested.

"No one talks about it, but there was once a special dorm set at the edge of the forest," explained Prof. Banner. "It was shut down after several students mysteriously went missing."

Syrus gulped, before asking where they went. Prof. Banner continued his story, explaining that it might've had to do with the Shadow Games. At this point, Chumley made himself heard, asking for his teacher to stop the story, but he didn't.

"You see, kids, Shadow Games are duels played with powerful mystical items." Prof. Banner told his students.

"'Millenium Items', right?" Jaden guessed, off-handedly. "I've heard about this, but it's not true."

"Yes, that is what most people would say, but I find that most stories, well, they generally have to come from somewhere."

Just then, Pharaoh gave a tired meow, and his owner excused both himself and his cat to go to bed. When they left, Syrus suddenly remembered something.

"You know, there is this creepy building I saw in the forest once." he said, now thinking back to an earlier point in the school year.

"Oh, sweet, then you'll lead the way for us tomorrow night!" cheered Jaden. "Rakaia, call up Ken, and see if she wants in on this one!"

Rakaia whipped out his PDA, as Syrus and Chumley began voicing their complains. Then suddenly, a figure slowly crept up behind Rakaia and grabbed him by the shoulder, surprising him. He turned to see Rose standing behind him, laughing.

"Haha, Rose." Rakaia said, deadpanned.

"So, what'd I miss, guys?" asked Rose.

"We're just planning a little hiking trip tomorrow night." Jaden replied, eagerly. "Wanna come with?"

"You know I'm in!"

Unknown to them, Dr. Crowler was standing just outside the window to the cafeteria, having heard it all.

"This is just the opportunity I've been waiting for!" he declared, quietly.

_"I think it's time the Shadows Games made a comeback!" _he thought, sinisterly. _"Millenium Items and all!"_

Elsewhere- Somewhere in a city far off from Duel Academy Island-

On that very same night, many miles from where Duel Academy was, a duel was occuring in the dark alleyway of a city. Two men had just finished the duel, with the bald punk trembling with fear before the much bigger, menacing man clad in a dark overcoat, a fedora hat, and a silverish-white mask.

"Okay, okay, you won!" cried the punk. "Please! Just take anything that you want and go!"

His opponent held up a golden triangular item with a Millenium Eye embedded in the center of it, and it began to glow.

"What I want...is your soul!" the owner of the item spoke.

The shorter, thinner man trembled even more, pleading for him to show some mercy. His opponent merely glanced at him.

"'Some mercy'?" he repeated. "What is that?"

The larger man simply activated his item, which gave off an intense glow, and the other man crumpled to the ground with a yell, and his cards fell out onto the street.

"Rest in peace." the black clad man said, glaring down at him. "In the Shadow Realm."

Then as he stood in front of where the unconscious punk laid, still whimpering, his cell phone rang. Upon answering it, he beckoned the caller to speak.

"'Duel Academy'? 'Tomorrow night'? I'll be there."

The Following Afternoon- Duel Academy- Classroom-

Dr. Crowler peeked in through the doors, and observed as Jaden and Syrus were sleeping through yet another class. Rakaia was watching Prof. Banner, and half-listening to him, while absent-mindedly doodling in his notebook.

_"Sleeping through yet another class, while that other slacker is slacking off!"_ Dr. Crowler thought, disgusted. _"But you'll have a make-up lesson soon enough. A lesson in the Shadow Games."_

He walked away from the doors, closing them quietly as he did so, and made his way to another part of the building, where the special education students were being tutored. He peeked in through the doors to see Ms. Lake helping Ken and Matt with their algebra work, and laughed quietly to himself.

_"And don't think I've forgotten about you, Ken, I've got something very special in mind for you!"_ the Ancient Gear duelist laughed inwardly. _"Yes, I've got something that should take care of you, once and for all!"_

Later that night- Harbor-

Dr. Crowler waited by the lighthouse for about a half an hour, until a few pairs of footsteps stopped behind him. He turned to see a trio of men, dressed in black clothing. One was a man in a heavy black overcoat, with a dueldisk attached to his left shoulder and arm, and a black suitcase in his gloved hand. He wore a silver-white mask over his face, and a black fedora hat on his head. The second man wore a black hoodie with a black bandana tied over his head, and a pair of thick black sunglasses over his eyes, and a pair of black zipper jeans and boots. He had tanned skin and early signs of a mustache and beard were starting to show. On his back was a backpack, which Crowler guessed held his dueldisk. The third man wore a dark ski mask, with his light brown eyes visible in the eyeholes, but there was no mouthpiece. Over the ski mask was a red and black demonic-looking mask that obscured the top half of it. He also wore dark blue zipped-up jacket with black pants and black sneakers, and carried a duffel bag over his shoulder.

"So, you're the one they call the Shadow Duelist." said Dr. Crowler.

"My opponents call me many things, but most of which are hard to discern through their shrieks of sheer terror." the bigger man of the trio spoke. "But enough small talk, what's the job?"

Dr. Crowler nodded, agreeing that it was time to get serious.

"I want you three to frighten three people so intensely, that they leave this Academy and never come back." he explained. "Up to the challenge?"

The other man smirked, as a fog surrounded them, and the other two men with them.

"Of course, I never turn my back on a challenge," the first man spoke, confidently. "And I don't expect these two gentlemen to either."

Dr. Crowler then darted to one side of the man, with the latter quickly turning in the direction the teacher was standing on, then repeated this when Dr. Crowler jumped to another side, and another.

"You are good." Dr. Crowler mused, impressed.

"I'm better than good, and I'll prove it," the much bigger man told him. "Not just by scaring this someone, but by banishing him to the Shadow Realm."

He glided away from the Obelisk Blue male headmaster. Dr. Crowler remained behind with the other two, confused as to what the bigger man meant.

"Well, alright, if you insist." he said. "And what of you two,...?"

"You can call me 'Zero', the most deadliest duelist in the underground dueling league," the man in the demon mask claimed. "I haven't lost a duel during my time there."

"And I am Fang, second best underground duelist, and I specialize in cutting through defenses just to deal deadly damage." the man with the sunglasses added. "Which will be the ones we are to face?"

Dr. Crowler took out a pair of photos and handed one to each of them.

"These two have been a thorn in my side for quite some time now, and I'd like for you to scare them off as well." he explained. "But don't harm any of the other children, and Titan is the only one who gets to deal with Mr. Yuki. Zero, however, I believe you'd like to take on Ms. Warren, and Fang can have Mr. Meiyo. I'll give you three a bonus if you scare off the other two Slifer males with Mr. Yuki as well."

"I can deal with that." said Fang.

Moments later- Somewhere in the forest-

"...I mean, you could look at it as being lost, or you could just say we found a couple of places where it's not."

"Jay, admit it. We're lost."

"We're not, Rakaia. I totally know where we're going."

Jaden, Syrus, Chumley, Rakaia, and Rose ventured off into the forest a little while after Dr. Crowler's hired help had shown up, and Jaden was the one in charge of the group. However, most of the group believed he had gotten them lost.

"Yeah, well, we've been finding places for over an hour now," complained Chumley. "But I guess it could be worse for Sy."

"Huh, for Sy?" Jaden repeated, turning to look at him.

"Yeah, we could be near a lake of dirty swamp water."

Syrus shot him a look, pointing out that Chumley was afraid to bathe due to being afraid of the bath water. Rakaia and Rose immediately turned to glance at Chumley, a little disgusted.

"Aw, rank!" Rakaia groaned, holding a hand over his nose.

"You mean that wasn't Prof. Banner's alchemy experiment gone bad?!" yelped Rose.

"I thought someone broke wind!"

Chumley and Syrus continued their bickering session until some rustling in the bushes alerted them to a new presence, causing them to freeze in their tracks.

"Cool your jets, dudes!" a familiar voice called.

"Ken, you made it!" exclaimed Jaden.

True enough, Ken emerged from the bushes, wearing her school uniform, a cobalt blue cadet cap, and a laptop bag that was slung over her shoulder. Behind her was Hailey, Luna, Taryn, Jessi, Laura, Chris, and Ramon, all dressed in their school uniforms and some of them carrying a backpack, but all with a flashlight.

"Hey, sorry we're late, guys." Jessi apologized. "We had to make sure we were all prepared, and Ken only had one grappling hook."

"Why didn't you just walk out the front door?" asked Syrus.

"Sy, we all just snuck out of our dorms to come check out an abandoned dorm in the dead of night. Why in the world would we use the front door?"

"Exactly."

Ken then sniffed at the air, confused.

"Huh, what's that smell?" she asked.

"See what happens when you miss a night of scary stories?" Rakaia pointed out, earning an even more confused look from her.

The group continued making their trek up the dirt path until Jaden spotted something on the ground in front of the left brick pillar. Upon shining his flashlight on it, the object on the grass was a red rose.

"Hey, check this out." said Jaden.

"Check out what's behind it!" Syrus alerted him.

Jaden looked up and saw their destination. The Abandoned Dorm, and it was as spooky-looking as Prof. Banner described.

"The old dorm!" exclaimed Jaden.

"And probably lots of ghosts too!" whimpered Chumley.

"Relax, guys, there's nobody here." Jaden assured his friends.

"Kinda hoping that someone jumps out and yells 'ooga booga booga' at this point." Rose whispered to Ken.

Ken chuckled in agreement. Then the sound of a branch snapping from nearby them surprised the group.

"So what's that?!" screamed Syrus and Chumley.

Everyone else turned their flashlights on the new presence, and the light revealed that it was Alexis and Ms. Lake, both of whom were surprised themselves. Syrus and Chumley, who had climbed onto Jaden out of terror calmed down enough to see that it really was their friends.

"Alexis! What are you doing here?" asked Syrus.

"And Ms. Lake, what brings you here?" Ken added, looking at her para.

"That's funny, I was about to ask you guys the very same thing." replied Alexis. "Ms. Lake's here because she wanted to see if Ken had done her homework, but couldn't find her."

Most of the guys in the group turned to glare at Ken, who just chuckled awkwardly, while rubbing the back of her head.

"We heard about the Abandoned Dorm and wanted to check it out." explained Jaden.

"Well that's not very intelligent, don't you know that kids have a way of disappearing around here?" asked Alexis.

"Aw, come on, that's just some urban myth."

"Yeah, I've never heard about this kind of thing working here." Ms. Lake piped up. "I've never heard of this place until I saw the name on an email sent from Mr. Meiyo."

The glares from the group now turned on Rakaia, who began whistling innocently. Alexis tried again to convince her friends that the myth was actually true, and tried to talk them into leaving.

"Yeah, sure, okay, so then why are you here?" asked Jaden.

"I have my reasons, that's why!" barked Alexis.

The sudden change in tone and behavior took Jaden aback, along with the others. She'd never acted like this before.

"Whoa, Alexis, no need to snap!" Jaden told her, calmly. "We just came here to look around, but, hey, we'll stay out of your way, don't worry about it!"

Alexis sighed, feeling bad for how she acted. She explained that her brother was one of the kids who had vanished from this dorm, and that was why she took this matter so seriously. Jaden's eyes then fell to the ground, back to where the rose was placed. It made sense to him now, and it made sense to Ken as well. Ken remembered back to the previous night, when she agreed to be lookout for Alexis, who had borrowed her grappling hook to "go off and find her binder that she dropped", and waited to let her back in. When Jaden looked back up, Alexis was already gone.

"If Alexis' brother really disappeared, then the rumors aren't just rumors." Syrus realized, feeling a sense of dread. "I say we go back, Jaden."

"Yeah? Well, I say we're go in!" Jaden responded.

Syrus looked back to see his friends were already heading inside, with the exception of Ms. Lake, who was also unsure about this.

"See you in a few, Syrus!" Jaden told him, grinning. "Don't disappear on us!"

Syrus mentally argued with himself on what to do, but in the end, decided to go in. That left just Ms. Lake, who sighed, and followed after him.

"Wait up, Syrus!" she called after the blue-haired Slifer.

A few ways away from the dorm, Alexis was watching them go in from behind a tree.

_"I hope Jaden knows what he's doing."_ she thought.

As she turned to head back to her dorm, she was confronted by a large figure, which caught her off guard. She gasped and looked up at the face of the stranger that was standing in front of her. It was one of Dr. Crowler's hired help, the one in the fedora. He smirked at her, and made to grab her, as Alexis let out a scream.

Meanwhile- Inside the Abandoned Dorm

Jaden and the group had divided into groups of three, and Jaden, Syrus, Chumley, Taryn, Jessi, and Laura were investigating the rooms on the left, while Rakaia and Ken led two other groups into two other directions.

"This place is sweet!" breathed Jaden. "You know, a little paint, couple of cardboard boxes, maybe a throw rug, and we could so totally move in here!"

This statement caused his two roommates to stare at him.

"What?! Are you kidding?!" yelled Syrus. "This is even worse than the Slifer Dorm! I mean, what's all this stuff on the walls?"

They continued looking around the room, and Syrus pointed his flashlight up to several parts of the wall, which contained Egyptian hieroglyphics pieces. Chumley pointed his own flashlight up there also, and stared up at the pictures, curiously.

"Do you think it has something to do with the Shadow Games?" he asked.

Jaden walked over to them to get a closer look, and studied each piece in awe.

"Jaden, don't stand so close!" Syrus yelped, nervously. "Are you nuts?!"

His friend was too interested in the pictures to listen, some of them had shown drawings depicting the Millenium items. All seven of the items in fact. Then he turned to look at what else was in the room, until the beam from his light fell on a picture that looked relatively new. The person in the picture was a teenage boy with long brown hair, and brown eyes, with light tan skin. He was dressed in an Obelisk Blue uniform, but it was mostly white, unlike the kind that Jaden had seen on the Obelisk males he had met.

"That shows someone I've never seen before." he said, stepping closer to look at it.

While Jaden was looking at the picture, Syrus walked over to the other side of the room, and a figure suddenly popped out of the cupboard, wearing a demonic mask.

"OOGA BOOGA BOOGA!" the figure shouted.

Syrus let out a panicked scream and hurried back over to Chumley, climbing up on his back. The person removed their mask to reveal itself to be Taryn, who was laughing hysterically.

"Jaden, make your sister stop!" whined Syrus.

"I'm sorry, Sy." Taryn apologized. "I had to do it."

"Wait, where are Laura and Jessi?"

As if on cue, a pair of masked figures popped up on either side of the two Slifer males, scaring them out of their skins. They only calmed down when the two beings removed their masks. It was Jessi and Laura, who were laughing hysterically.

"You think you're funny, don't you?!" Syrus barked, glaring at both of them.

Jaden, Chumley, and Taryn watched as he chased the two girls around the room, laughing hysterically. At least nobody was getting bored.

* * *

Rakaia, Rose, Luna, and Hailey were checking out the right side of the dorm, which contained the library, and Rakaia was pulling at each of the books.

"What are you doing, Rakaia?" asked Hailey.

"Hoping that one of them will open a secret passageway, Smokestack?" joked Rose.

Rakaia shot her an evil glare.

"Stop calling me 'Smokestack'!" he yelled, angrily.

"Whatever you say, Small Fry." Rose replied, smirking.

She was met with a very irritated glare from the dragon duelist, and the four of them continued to look. Then one book on a smaller bookshelf caught Hailey's attention, and she took it down to look through it. She blew the dust off of it, then opened it to scan the pages within.

"What'cha got there, Hailey?" asked Rakaia.

"It's an old yearbook." replied Hailey. "Check out some of these names."

Rakaia and Rose leapt up to join her, and saw several people in the book that looked familiar. Rakaia pointed at one picture in particular.

"Look at that!" he gasped. "That's the guy I was dueling before!"

He pointed at a boy with long dark hair, and a small smile. The name beneath his picture read "Zane Truedale".

"'Zane Truesdale'." Rose read. "Hold up, you dueled this guy?"

"Yeah." Rakaia answered, nodding. "Got owned in one turn though, had my best monster out and everything."

Hailey and Rose winced when he told them that, then Hailey saw another picture on the same page as Zane's picture. It was a boy with dark hair that was longer than Zane's, and had a bigger smile on his face.

"Isn't Alexis' last name 'Rhodes'?" asked Hailey.

"Yeah, why?" asked Rakaia.

He saw what Hailey was looking at and his eyes narrowed. The picture Hailey was looking at was of a boy named "Atticus Rhodes". Could this be Alexis' brother that she was talking about?

* * *

"That's it. Jaden's not allowed to pick the next adventure." Ken spoke.

She and her group were exploring the bedrooms upstairs, and found nothing but furniture and dust. Ms. Lake and Ramon were each investigating other bedrooms, while Ken and Chris were still looking in the second one on the left side of the hall. Chris opened one closet and found several cards scattered inside.

"Hey, I found something." he called.

Ken, who was looking underneath the bed, poked her head up, and quickly bolted over to him. The cards Chris had found consisted of several rare cards, including a Dark Magician Girl.

"Hey, let's go find Sy. He's been talking about wanting a Dark Magician Girl card." Chris said, pocketing the cards.

"Hey, hold on a minute, guys." Ramon's voice called out.

He poked his head out of the room he was looking in.

"You guys need to check this out." he told them. "I found some files and photographs."

Ken and Chris quickly exchanged looks and bolted into the room, following their friend over to a cabinet. The cabinet contained a box of files, that held documents containing the bios of students, until Ramon found one in particular.

"Hey, guys, check it, I think we found one on our friend's missing brother." he announced, holding on folder up. "Said he's off studying in another school."

Ken took the folder, examining the documents. She then took out her camcorder, and turned it on.

"What are you doing?" asked Chris.

"We can't very well remove the files, dude, so I'm making footage that we can show Alexis later." replied Ken. "We should let her know about this."

"Good idea."

"See if you guys can find anything else."

Meanwhile- In the basement of the dorm-

Alexis' eyes fluttered open, and she looked down to see her hands were tied together in front of her with some rope. She instantly knew she was in trouble.

"Where am I?" she wondered aloud.

The sound of deep, menacing laughter startled her. She immediately began looking from side to side for the owner of the new voice.

"On a hook, dangling, baiting your friends into my trap." a deep, male voice replied to her question.

The moment he said that, Alexis had a good idea as to whom he was referring to.

"Jaden." she spoke.

Then a bright flash of light appeared in front of her, and she let out a high-pitched scream of terror. One that was heard by her friends, as they charged out into the main hallway, all of them having heard the scream.

"What the hell was that?!" demanded Ken.

"That was Alexis, we think she might be in trouble!" Jaden replied, looking up at her.

Jaden and his group went off ahead, while Rakaia and Ken's groups lingered behind.

"Hey, where'd Luna go?" asked Hailey.

Rakaia whipped his head around, and saw that she was right. Luna was missing. Ken, Chris, and Ramon were quick to notice that Ms. Lake had vanished also. Believing that their missing comrades might be in danger also, Rakaia and Ken rocketed off back to where they were looking around, hoping to find some sort of clue. Hailey, Rose, Chris, and Ramon followed after them, while Jaden and his group ran off ahead. Jaden pointed his flashlight around when they reached the wooden railing by the staircase, and noticed something on the ground downstairs. Marks indicating that someone was being dragged, and a card on the ground. Jaden led the others down the stairs, and picked it up. The card was Etoile Cyber, Alexis' Etoile Cyber.

"This is Alexis' card." he spoke.

Chumley then pointed toward the center doorway.

"Well there's only one way that she could've gone." he said.

"Then that's the way we're going!" declared Jaden.

He prepared to take off, then stopped when he noticed some of the group was missing.

"Where are...?" the E-Hero duelist asked.

"I heard Hailey say Luna was gone, I think they went back to find her." replied Jessi.

"You, Taryn, and Laura go back and help them. We'll get Alexis."

Taryn, Jessi, and Laura nodded, and doubled back to go help find their friends, while Jaden, Syrus, and Chumley headed down the hallway to search for the female Cyber duelist.

* * *

Okay, I wanted to make the duel outline before I updated. Read and review please, no flames allowed.

Hailey Ryan is owned by Peach Wookiee, Luna Tenshi, and Crayus and Rakaia Meiyo are obviously owned by Rakaia The Dragon Duelist, Sega Rivera is owned by Sega herself, Will Rosen is owned by 15animefreak15, Laura is owned by Hyruleepona, Taryn and Jessi Yuki are owned by Dyusu, and finally Rose Renea is owned by maymay85985. As for my OCs, Ken, Matt, Kenneth, Chris, Bella, and Ramon, they're owned by me and my Duel Club familia, along with Tony Casimir and Ms. Erin Lake. Don't own the original series part of the plot, but I did tweak with it a bit. The main plot is owned by Kazuki Takahashi and everyone else who helped bring Yu-Gi-Oh! GX into this world. Robot Alchemic Drive is developed by Sandlot, and published by Enix, so I guess they own the game. The Meganite and Volgara cards are being posted up on Deviant Art.


	13. Triple Terror Pt 1

Ch.13- Triple Terror Part 1-

Jaden, Syrus, and Chumley bolted down one corridor, searching for any sign of Alexis, until they came across a doorway leading a very large room. It was dark inside, but they could see enough to discover that they had just walked into a duel arena built into the dorm's basement, that resembled the inside of a cave. However, Jaden wasn't interested in the scenery, because he had located Alexis, who was laying unconscious inside of a skeletal coffin.

"Alexis!" Jaden called out to her.

But it was no use. She was too out of it to realize her friends had come to help her. Jaden soon learned that he and his two friends were not alone, as the sound of laughter echoed throughout the room.

"She can't hear you." the owner of the laugh explained. "She's far away, locked in the Shadow Realm."

"Who's there?!" demanded Jaden.

From the ghostly fog, that the trio of Slifers had just noticed rolling into the room, a man in a dark coat rose up, his face obscured by a black fedora hat, and a silver mask. It was Titan, the duelist Dr. Crowler had called on to take on Jaden.

"Your worst nightmare come true." Titan calmly replied.

Jaden glared at him, while his two friends behind him stood there with nervous glances on their faces. He did not have time for any games, not when one of his friends might be hurt right now.

"Oh, give me a break." groaned Jaden.

The bigger man across from him slowly lifted his head up, staring at him through the eyes of his mask.

"Then let me prove it to you," he told the E-Hero duelist. "In a Shadow game!"

Syrus then looked up at Jaden, reminding him that they had to get Alexis back. Jaden looked down at his smaller friend, and nodded in agreement, before looking back over at the man holding their friend prisoner.

"Yeah, hand her over right now, or you'll be sorry!" he demanded.

"The only way I'll free her is if you beat me in a Shadow game." responded Titan.

"He's not looking at me, is he?" asked Chumley.

Ignoring him, Jaden took a step forward, not backing down from this.

"Look, I'm not afraid of dueling you, but Shadow games don't exist!" he declared.

"The others didn't believe in the Shadow games either, but they were soon convinced." the Shadow duelist continued, flexing his left hand. "For you see, if you lose in a Shadow game, you don't just pay with your life points, you pay with your soul!"

Then something came to Jaden's mind as he remembered what he had learned about this dorm.

"So you're the one behind all those disappearances!" he growled. "Well, you're not getting us, especially Alexis!"

"Unless you win, she's mine forever, as you will be." Titan reminded him. "And I see the number in your group has decreased quite a bit, so I guess your other friends in the blue jackets and the other two in red must've realized that two more of your number have been taken as well."

The three Slifers stared at him in confusion for a moment, then Syrus whipped out his PDA, and contacted the first person that came to mind. Hailey's face then appeared on the screen, and she appeared very panicked.

"Hailey,-" Syrus began.

"I know, Luna, Ms. Lake, and Alexis are in trouble." Hailey interrupted, looking up at something. "We're chasing the perp as we speak, but I can't talk and run at the same time."

Syrus looked back up at Jaden, who was watching him out of the corner of his eye.

"Don't worry about us, Hailey, we're fine on this end." Jaden assured his friend. "We found Alexis, but Ms. Lake and Luna are probably being held elsewhere. Do what you guys have to."

"Got it. Be careful, all three of you." Hailey's voice called from the PDA.

Jaden nodded back at her, and felt a tap at his arm, then turned the other way to see Chumley handing him a dueldisk. The E-Hero duelist took it and slipped it on his left arm, then stepped forward.

"Alright, get your game on." he declared.

His opponent activated his own dueldisk, readying himself for the duel.

"'Shadow game', that is!" Titan corrected the boy.

Jaden inserted his deck into the dueldisk, activating it, before looking over at where his unconscious female friend laid.

"Just hang on, Alexis," he muttered. "I'll get you out."

"Duel!" Jaden and his opponent shouted.

Titan raised his right hand towards his deck.

"Prepare, you fool, to enter into...the Shadows!" the Shadow duelist announced, as the top card shot out into his waiting hand. "I summon Infernalqueen Archfiend in Attack Mode!"

He placed a card down onto his dueldisk, and a gold and black winged fiend with dark blue hair emerged onto the field, wearing gold-trimmed red skeletal armor over a purple cloak, and a red crown covering the monster's hair, but not the two horns protruding from it's head. The new monster gave demonic wail as it raised it's claws, preparing to fight, despite having only 900 ATK so far.

"An Archfiend monster?" Jaden wondered aloud.

He spoke in a tone, indicating that he knew about these monsters, but Titan didn't care.

"Yes, but now that this card's out, each and every monster with 'Archfiend' in it's name gains 1000 ATK pts." the latter explained.

Chumley gasped in shock at the revelation. That did not sound good. Syrus warned Jaden to be careful, as they watched the female Archfiend's ATK go from 900 to 1900. However, Jaden wasn't all that worried.

"Uh, yeah, actually, I already knew that." he spoke, smiling. "And I also know that to keep those Archfiends on the field, you've gotta pay life points during every Standby Phase of your turn."

Titan chuckled lowly to himself, as his right hand reached back up to the cards in his other hand.

"No, I don't." he responded. "Not after activating the Spell card Pandemonium."

Jaden, Syrus, and Chumley watched as the Shadow duelist took one card from his hand, and set it in the card slot attached to the arm piece attaching the dueldisk to his arm. A bright light then shone from the slot as it closed, blinding the Slifers momentarily. When they opened their eyes again, they saw that the appearance of the room had changed. What was once a dark, cave-like room, now turned into a demonic arena, complete with skeletal statues and such, and a bright red-orange light filled the room now.

"Pretty cool." Jaden mused to himself.

"And it doesn't just change the scenery, it changes the rules." Titan explained, smiling. "Now I don't have to pay any life points for my Archfiends, and if they're ever destroyed outside of a battle, I get to put another fiend right into my hand."

Jaden scowled at him, now realizing whatever advantage he may have once had was gone.

"I know what you're thinking," Titan continued, gesturing to Alexis. "Your little friend's fate is all but sealed."

The ground began to rumble, and the older duelist grinned as the coffin containing his hostage closed up, while a pair of skeletal, fiendish claws rose up from the ground.

"Well you're right!" he finished.

Jaden, Syrus, and Chumley could only watch as the claws dragged the coffin and their friend under. The latter two Slifers felt a surge of courage rise within them, and spoke up.

"That's not fair!" yelled Chumley.

"Yeah, what've you done?!" demanded Syrus.

Titan smiled at them.

"The same thing I will do to the both of you, should you continue to pester and annoy me!" he replied, now glaring at them.

Whatever courage the two teens felt evaporated quickly, as they backed off.

"Hey, just leave my friends out of this!" Jaden demanded, bravely. "My draw!"

He drew the top card from his deck, and studied it, and then his hand.

_"I don't have any card that can go up against 1900 ATK pts.," _he thought, trying to come up with a strategy. _"But maybe,..."_

The Slifer Red teen then made his move.

"Elemental Hero Avian," he spoke, taking another card from his hand. "I summon you out in Attack Mode!"

Jaden placed the card down on his field, and the green, winged hero rose up onto the field, facing his opponents.

"And I'm gonna throw down two facedowns as well." he finished, setting two cards.

Titan watched as two set cards appeared behind the Elemental Hero, and smirked.

"Too bad you won't have a chance to use them." he taunted the boy, as he drew his card. "I summon Terrorking Archfiend in Attack Mode!"

The Shadow duelist slapped down a card next to his Infernalqueen Archfiend, and a red and yellow skeletal monster appeared onto the field with huge gold and black wings, and a red flowing cape. It's piercing red eyes glared at Jaden and his monster, as it gave a mighty roar, signaling that it was ready for battle. This new monster had 2000 ATK.

"Now you have two vicious Archfiends to contend with," Titan continued. "And thanks to the special ability of the Infernalqueen, the Terrorking's ATK pts. automatically increase by a thousand! Making him an even more fiendish force to be reckoned with!"

As soon as he finished, the new Archfiend's ATK went from 2000 to 3000 almost instantly. Jaden could only watch in shock.

"3000 ATK pts.?!" he repeated.

His Avian didn't stand a chance against either one of them, and the queen was enough of a challenge as it was.

"That's right!" responded Titan. "And now I'll put them all to use!"

He ordered his Terrorking Archfiend to attack Jaden's Avian, and the front of the fiend's upper torso opened up, sending out a swarm of locusts that flew towards the superhero monster. Before they could reach Avian though, Jaden activated his Trap card.

"No way, you forgot about my facedown card, Mirror Gate!" he stated, as it flipped up.

An invisible wall in front of Avian began rippling, waiting for Titan's monster's attack to make contact.

"This Trap card causes our monsters to trade places! My Avian for your Terrorking!" Jaden explained, pumping his fist up slightly. "So now all those 3000 ATK pts. are going to work for me!"

Titan cocked a grin, as if he was waiting for a move like that.

"You really thought you could bait me into a trap?" he asked. "Look around you and tell me who's trapped!"

"What do you mean?" Jaden asked, confused.

"I mean your Trap won't work against my Terrorking, it simply activates his special ability, an ability that determines a fate by a way of chance!"

He shot his hand out before him, and from the center of the arena, several round sphere shot out of the lava pit, and flew over to him. Not just any spheres though, as Jaden, Syrus, and Chumley saw that they were multicolored spheres with numbers on them. The six balls stopped in midair beside Titan's head, and spread out a little in a circle. Jaden gulped, knowing this might be bad.

"Oh, man." he moaned.

"You see, when he's targeted by an opponent's effect, Terrorking's special ability gives me a gambling chance." Titan explained, looking at the teen in front of him. "A number between 1 and 6 is selected at random, and if it happens to be a two, or a five, then your Trap's destroyed, and Archfiend stays to fight on my side. So let's spin the wheel of fate, and see what happens, shall we?"

A small flame began to grow in the center of the circle, then suddenly grew big enough to engulf all six spheres in a ring of fire, and finally shrunk again as it now only engulfed the yellow ball labeled "1". The flame began to pass from number to number, going in a clockwise motion, as the others watched patiently.

"It's okay, the odds are way in Jaden's favor." Chumley spoke, reassuringly.

"You flunked math, Chumley." Syrus pointed out.

"No, I got a 54."

As they argued, the flame began slowing down, until it stopped on the red sphere labeled "2".

"Two!" announced Titan. "It seems as though that chance has favored the Terrorking Archfiend! Mirror Gate is shattered!"

As he said this, the invisible forcefield before Avian cleared out of the field quickly, and the locusts descended on him.

"Locust Storm Barrage!" roared Titan. "Finish him!"

The locusts attacked the green Elemental Hero, and soon, the monster was destroyed in a big explosion, taking 2000 of Jaden's life points with him, leaving him at 2000.

"Well that stinks." Jaden muttered, shielding his face with one arm. "But at least it activates my second trap: Hero Signal!"

The second Trap card on his side of the field flipped face-up, and a green light ejected from it. At the end of the light was the emblem for the Elemental Heroes, which was the letter "H".

"When my monster's destroyed in battle, this Trap card allows me to automatically summon a monster from my deck or my hand with Elemental Hero in it's name." explained Jaden. "And I summon Elemental Hero Clayman! Defense Mode!"

The clay-costumed hero emerged onto the field with a grunt and knelt before Jaden in a defensive pose.

"Oh, way to duel!" Syrus cheered.

"That Clayman should keep Jaden safe!" agreed Chumley.

Titan smirked upon hearing them.

"I don't think so." he stated, much to their confusion. "At least not from this!"

The trio of Slifers watched as he held up a pyramid-shaped item with a Millennium eye embedded in the center of the front of the object. The item began to glow with a bright light that blinded the students.

"Now the Shadow games have truly begun!" declared Titan. "Don't your life points seem so utterly insignificant? Now that your very life is at risk?"

Jaden could only stare at the bigger man in confusion, wondering what he meant, until his friends began calling out to him.

"Jaden!"

"No!"

Jaden looked down and to his surprise, parts of his body began to disappear.

"Hey, my arm!" he yelped.

"It is the way of the Shadows, transcending the game, attacking your body." Titan spoke, chuckling.

Jaden ignored him, and felt that his legs would not move. It was as if he couldn't control them.

"Hey, I can't move my feet!" he exclaimed.

"Of course not, as the shadow fogs passed, you all feel the darkness take you into it's grip completely." Titan went on.

By now the teens noticed that black smoke began to fill the room, and Chumley and Syrus began to feel the air getting thicker.

"The air! Getting tough to breathe!" Chumley gasped, putting a hand to his own throat.

"You are at the mercy of the night now." Titan taunted them.

"I-I can't feel anything..." whimpered Syrus.

"Treasure the numbness, for it will not last. Soon you will be drawn into an infinite chasm of eternal darkness where every waking moment will be filled of-"

"Give me a break!" Jaden interrupted him.

Titan stopped talking to hear what he had to say.

"How bad could it be?" asked Jaden. "So what? Back at our dorm, we got blackout curtains so we can sleep in later. I'm not scared of the dark, it's great!"

"But your blackout curtains do not wield the same kind of mystic power as my Millennium item does." said Titan.

Jaden stared at the item Titan was still holding up in awe.

"Uh-oh. Trouble." moaned Chumley.

_"I hope the others aren't having this kind of issue."_ Syrus thought to himself.

"It's your move." Titan announced. "But make it count, it may be your last."

_"Wow, Millennium items, a Shadow fog, who could ask for a better challenge?" _Jaden thought, excitedly.

Titan saw to his irritation that the boy appeared to be smirking.

_"What's he smiling about?!"_ he demanded mentally.

"Alright, Jaden, get your game on." Jaden told himself, before looking up at Titan. "Here goes, buddy! For my move, I play-"

He drew his card, and held it up.

"-the Spell card, Pot of Greed!" he announced.

He drew his two cards, then put them in his hand to take out two cards from it, holding them up for Titan to see.

"And I'll fuse this Elemental Hero Sparkman with Clayman on the field!" the E-Hero duelist continued.

Elemental Hero Sparkman appeared onto the field, and leapt into the air with his teammate, then both disappeared into a vortex.

"Now say hello to Elemental Hero Thunder Giant!" Jaden called, as his new monster appeared.

Thunder Giant rose up onto the field with a mighty roar, ready for battle.

"And now I'll use his special ability, which lets me destroy a monster whose original ATK pts. are lower than his!" Jaden went on, looking at his monster. "Now Thunder Giant, let loose Static Blast!"

The powerful hero charged up his attack, and prepared to frag his target, and let it loose on Terrorking Archfiend. Unfortunately, it wouldn't reach it, as Jaden saw Titan wasn't looking worried at all.

"Uh-oh." the teenager muttered.

"I activate Terrorking's special ability once again!" Titan announced, as six familiar spheres rose up beside him again. "Spin Roulette!"

The flame appeared again, and enveloped the balls, then shrunk again to swallow up one ball. Jaden, Syrus, and Chumley watched as the roulette began once again, remembering that if it landed on a "2" or a "5", Terrorking Archfiend would live to see another battle.

"Oh, no!" exclaimed Syrus. "It just can't land on a two or a five again!"

The flame began slowing down, until it landed on the orange ball labeled "5". Titan laughed with glee, as that meant that Thunder Giant's ability was negated.

"I win again!" he announced. "It seems as though even fate isn't on your side half the time, and now you will pay the price!"

The volt of electricity began rebounding and headed back at it's owner, then vaporized it. Jaden raised an arm to shield himself, and groaned.

"This stinks!" he said. "Talk about a run of some really rotten luck!"

"Jaden!" Syrus called out to his friend.

Chumley however watched with silent dread.

_"This is totally anti-licious! No matter what Jaden does, that Shadow duelist's Archfiend deck can use that roulette to save himself, and this choking dark fog isn't exactly helping things either!"_ he groaned mentally. _"I mean, first Jaden came here to save Alexis, and now he might not be able to save himself!"_

"Now, all your monsters are destroyed, and you're next!" Titan declared, cackling evilly.

* * *

While Jaden was dueling the mysterious Shadow duelist, Rakaia, Hailey, Ken, Chris, Ramon, Rose, Taryn, Jessi, and Laura took chase after a after a shady man wearing dark clothing and sunglasses. They spotted him standing in the hallway when they were looking for any sign of Luna and Ms. Lake. Upon finding the perp, the larger group pursued him, until the mystery figure led the teens further into the dorm, until they reached the library, and he had his back to the bookshelf. The group of Obelisks and Slifers spread out, so that the mystery man could not run away.

"Okay, you can either tell us who the hell you are, and where Ms. Lake and Luna are, or we can do this the hard way!" Ramon announced, as he and the others moved in closer.

Instead of responding, the shady figure pressed a book into the bookshelf, and caused it to rotate around, taking him into a secret room.

"Hey!" Ken shouted, charging forward. "Get back here!"

She tackled into the bookcase before anyone could stop her, and managed to hit it hard enough to rotate it half way, opening the passageway to the secret room.

"I knew it!" grinned Rakaia. "Thanks, Ken!"

Ken rose back to her feet, dizzily, and turned to him, flashing him a thumbs-up. The others behind her rushed past her to continue their chase. Ken began turning the other way, still a little dizzy from her reckless tackle, until Rose came back and started pulling her along to rejoin their friends.

"Come on, hothead!" she commanded her friend.

* * *

"How many floors are in this place?" asked Chris.

"I know, I mean, sure, some places have basements, but not a basement on top of a basement." Jessi agreed, wiping the sweat from her forehead.

"As long as these stairs don't lead to Hell, or a secret organization of cheerleaders, I don't care!" replied Ken.

"Ken, for the millionth time, cheerleaders are harmless." Hailey told her.

"Right, and Dr. Crowler is the king of fashion. Just keep your eyes peeled, your ears open, and your fists ready to chuck, guys."

After another minute of descending down the stairs, they had finally reached a new doorway. Ken reached out and grabbed the doorknob, then turned it, opening the door. The room inside was dark, and walked inside. Ramon, Rose, Laura, and Taryn took out their flashlights and pointed them around the room so everyone could see.

"Be prepared for anything, guys." Hailey told her friends.

They walked into the room, looking around for any signs of the missing girls, or whoever was behind their disappearances. Then after a moment of walking, a trapdoor opened beneath them. The nine students fell through the trapdoor, and hurled down a tunnel, screaming.

"Now where are we going?!" asked Rakaia.

"Slowly insane!" replied Ken.

After a moment of sailing through the tunnel, they were launched into the air. After sailing into the air, the group of teens plummeted to the ground, but luckily, survived the fall.

"Whoever's alive, sound off." Hailey called, pushing herself off of the ground.

Her friends groaned painfully in response, which translated to "Yeah, we're alive." Chris got up to his feet first, and looked around while the others were still groaning in pain as they got up. They saw that they were in a forest-like area, but it was a little darker than it was when they were outside moments ago.

"Where are we?" asked Chris.

"I don't have the faintest idea, Chris," replied Hailey. "All I remember is going through a trapdoor."

Rakaia looked to the side, and pointed away at something.

"Exit ho, ladies, gentlemen, and punk!" he announced.

The others looked to where he was pointing. There was a door leading somewhere, they didn't know what, but what choice did they have. They slowly made their way into the next room, cautiously keeping a lookout for anything good or bad. Then after a few minutes, they heard a scream from down the hall.

"...Get your hands off of me!" a female voice called. "Let me go! Help!"

Rakaia and Hailey stopped in their tracks immediately and looked at each other.

"That was Luna!" said Rakaia.

"But where...?" Hailey wondered aloud.

Ken motioned for them to be silent for a moment, and waited a moment. They heard soft rattling sounds coming from down the hall, and quietly made their way towards it, until they stopped at the door farthest down on the right. Inside, they found Luna and Ms. Lake sitting in a couple of large metal chairs, facing them. Upon glancing closer, they noticed the two females were strapped down to the chairs, and there were electric cables attached to it.

"Luna!" Rakaia called, rushing into the room.

"Like everyone keeps telling me, cool your jets!" Ken shouted, as she and the others charged after him.

"No, stop! It's a trap!" Ms. Lake warned them.

The moment all nine of them entered the room, the lights turned on, and the door slammed shut behind them. Ramon turned around and tried to open the door, but to no avail.

"It's locked!" he alerted the others.

"Alright, where's the creep that's behind this?" Ken demanded, looking around the room.

The sound of deep chuckling alerted her and her friends that there was another person in the room.

"Never mind." muttered Ken.

"Welcome, kids, I'm so glad you could drop in." a male voice greeted, with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

The group turned around to see two masked figures in the room, one standing beside Ms. Lake, and the other standing beside Luna. The man beside Ms. Lake held a duffel bag in one hand, and a dueldisk was strapped on his other arm, while the other man held a dueldisk of his own.

"Where in the world are we?" asked Chris.

"Yeah, and who are you?" demanded Hailey.

"A basement level in the island that only a few people know about. I used to go to school here, that's how I know. It's right nearby the lab facility, located in the woods. Oh, that's right, I've never gotten to introduce myself yet, I am Zero, the best and undefeated underground duelist in the world. This is my friend and partner, Fang, the second best duelist in the underground dueling world."

"Congratulations, we'll send a medal in 6-8 weeks." Ken commented, sarcastically. "Look, what is it that you want from us, and what're they doing in those chairs?"

The masked duelists then pointed at her and Rakaia, indicating that the Meganite and dragon duelists were the targets.

"Us?" Ken asked, rubbing the back of her head. "But what for? What did we do?"

"All in due time." responded Zero. "Now you can either duel, or watch as I kill them. I won't play games like Titan."

The bluntness of his statement hit the students and their teacher hard.

"Screw dueling, how about I own your hides in a fight?" Ken asked, now pounding her fist into her free hand, eagerly.

Rakaia gripped her shoulder and gestured for her to calm down before taking a step forward.

"Look, whatever problem you have with the two you've got over there, you can leave them out of it." he said. "We'll duel, no problem-"

"Yeah, how about you shut up and get your dueldisks out, or watch them fry?" declared Fang. "Now, make your choice, Spiky!"

Ken then raised her hand, causing everyone to look at her.

"Wait, so, who's dueling first?" she asked.

"We're having a tag duel, you moron." Zero snapped, in an annoyed tone.

"...Dude, it was just a question." Taryn said, raising her hands in a defensive gesture. "You don't have to be a total douchebag about it."

Moments later, the four duelists had gotten into their places, while Hailey, Chris, Ramon, Taryn, Jessi, Rose, and Laura stayed on the sidelines. Rakaia stood across from Fang, while Ken stood across from Zero. But before the duel could begin, the underground duelists kicked a pair of suitcases over to them. Cautiously, Ken knelt down first to open it, and found an odd-looking set of collars, all in various sizes. Each had a spike protruding on either side of it, and an eerie orange gem-like device embedded into it.

"What are those?" asked Rakaia.

"Put them on. Two for the ankles, two for the wrists, two for your upper arms, and one for the neck." Fang instructed them, grinning. "After you do, we'll disconnect the cables from the ladies' chairs."

Rakaia looked over at Ken, who just shrugged at him. They began placing the collars on said locations, complying with his demands. True to his word though, Fang, along with Zero, removed the cables from the chairs Luna and Ms. Lake were bound to. The four players activated their dueldisks, and the duel began as each player drew their starting hand.

"Be careful, guys!" Chris called out to his friends.

"Yeah, keep your cool at all times!" added Jessi.

"That means you, Ken!" Ramon joked, looking at Ken.

"Ah, shut up!" Ken snapped.

Fang drew his card from the top of his deck, and looked at his hand, trying to figure out what his first move should be.

"I think I'll start off small, and summon the Dark Zebra in Attack Mode." he announced, placing a card from his hand onto the dueldisk.

A zebra with a horn protruding from it's forehead appeared onto the field with 1800 ATK, and glared at Rakaia, while stomping at the ground, threateningly.

"I don't think it likes me." said Rakaia.

"Of course it doesn't, you're the enemy." Fang told him, as he slid one card in his dueldisk's Spell and Trap Card slot. "Next, I'll place one card facedown, and end my turn."

That signaled for Rakaia to start his turn, and he drew his card. He then smiled as he looked down at his hand.

_"Okay, we've gotta win this duel quick, Jay might need us."_ the dragon duelist thought, placing the card he drew in his hand. _"I just hope Ken has that Meganite's Rising in her hand."_

Rakaia took out another card from his hand and held it up.

"I activate my Super Rejuvenation Spell. Now, during my End Phase, if I tribute or discard any Dragons on the field or my hand to the grave, I can draw a card for each one." he explained, as he took another card from his hand. "Now, I activate my Graceful Charity, so I can draw three cards, but I have to discard two."

He drew three cards from the top of his deck and added them to his hand, then he scanned it. He took two cards from it and placed them into the graveyard slot of his dueldisk. Then he held up another card from his hand.

"Next, I summon my Red Eyes Black Chick in Attack Mode!" called Rakaia.

He set the card down on his dueldisk, and a small, bipedal, black dragon with big red eyes and big black wings appeared onto the field with 800 ATK.

"He may be a little tyke, but he's got a big power." explained Rakaia. "When I've got him on the field, and if I happen to have a Red Eyes Black Dragon in my hand, like I do now, I can tribute this little fella, and bring the bigger dragon out."

The Red Eyes Black Chick became enveloped in a bright white light, and then began to grow until it became an adult-sized, and much more menacing-looking Red Eyes Black Dragon. This dragon had 2400 ATK.

"So, the rumors are true," stated Fang. "You do favor the Red Eyes archetype."

"So what if I do?" asked Rakaia. "I like the Red Eyes dragons."

"Nothing at all. You and your partner are very predictable, I know about the Red Eyes dragons and the robots your partner uses, so our decks are equipped with cards to counter your strategies. And it's because of this that we will beat you."

Rakaia looked over at Ken, who rolled her eyes in response, then looked back at their opponents. The spiky-haired Slifer set a card in one of his dueldisk's Spell and Trap Card slot, and a facedown card appeared behind the Red Eyes Black Dragon.

"Okay, let's see if you can win." he said. "I'll throw down a facedown, and end my turn. But before your partner takes his turn, I get to draw three cards because of my Spell's effect."

With that, he drew three cards from the top of his deck, and looked at them.

"My turn!" Zero said, drawing his card. "And I'll start by setting two cards facedown, then play the Field Spell Mausoleum of the Emperor!"

After setting two cards facedown on the field, he put a Spell card in the Field Spell compartment slot built into his dueldisk. The field then changed to a massive fortress-like chamber, with a long stone bridge in the center. On one side, behind where Fang and Zero were standing, was an altar, where those on the sidelines and where Ken and Rakaia were standing could see a large flame burning at the top. Down below, were hundreds of statues, which could barely be spotted in the dense fog blanketing the ground beneath the duelists.

"With this, we can pay life points to summon a powerful monster, 500 for a single tribute, and 1000 for two." explained Zero. "A fair deal, especially when you're bringing out a monster as powerful as the one I'm going to play!"

Zero and Fang's life points decreased from 8000 to 7000, as two Haniwa statues rose up from the ground. They digitized from the top down, as Zero raised a card in the air.

"I pay 1000 life points to summon one of my most deadliest creatures!" he called. "The Big Saturn!"

Ken's eyes widened when he said that.

"Saturn?!" she repeated. "As in the 'Planet series'?!"

"The very same!" answered Zero.

A very large monster appeared, casting it's massive shadow over Ken, and it's yellow eyes seemed to glare down at her. The new monster was a spherical black and white machine with two large arms that floated in front of it, two rockets attached to the back of it as a makeshift jetpack, and a golden ring of energy that encircled the monster. It had 2800 ATK.

"Aw, man!" griped Ken. "Not another one!"

"What does that one do?" asked Rakaia.

"Nothing, yet, but when I get the chance to attack again, you'll really be begging for mercy." replied Zero. "So, I'll just set these three cards facedown and end my turn."

_"Meaning I better be careful,"_ Ken thought. _"If this thing was as tough to beat as the Tyrant Neptune, I'm gonna need a big freaking miracle to help Rakaia pull this win off."_

She drew her card and looked at it.

_"Not the card I was hoping for, but at least it'll give us a great defense."_ she thought, smiling.

"Rakaia, can I borrow a few Dragons?" asked Ken.

Rakaia, knowing what she was going to do, nodded at her.

"Go for it!" he replied.

"Thanks. I remove the three dragons Rakaia sent to his grave in his first turn in order to activate my Defenders of Senjo Spell card!" Ken stated, holding up a Spell card. "Think of it like Meganite's Rising, 'cept I can't keep this card on the field to use again and again, and the Meganite has to come from my hand."

"So, which one will it be?" asked Zero. "Will it be Laguiole, or Vavel?"

"I'm thinking our best defensive player will do the trick, so come on out, Gllang!"

The massive tank-like robot emerged onto the field with a mechanical grunt as he stood bravely before his owner, and cracked his knuckles menacingly at their enemy.

"Of course you'd pick that one." Zero scoffed, taking a card from his hand. "But no matter, it helps because since you Special Summoned a monster from your hand, I can bring this out from mine."

A massive mechanical t-rex appeared onto the field with a ferocious roar as it glared at Gllang. This monster had 2500 ATK.

"Ken, you should've played Vavel." Rakaia told his partner.

"The duel's still young, man, I'll get another Meganite out on my next turn." Ken responded, with a wave of her hand. "For now, let's build up our defenses."

She slid a card in her dueldisk, and a Spell card appeared onto the field face-up. Next a storm cloud formed over them, with lightning crashing around it, and thunder rumbling loudly. Zero, his monsters, and the others watched with interest, waiting to see what she was doing.

"And what might this be about?" asked Zero.

"It's called 'Phantom Out', that's what a Volgara does when it's ready to enter a battle." explained Ken. "This little Spell card allows me to bring out another Volgara to the field from my hand or deck, and I've got the perfect one in mind! Volgara Harrier!"

From the sky descended a more round-looking robot with football-shaped pincers on his hands, and the armor appeared to be a little more durable than the other Volgara monsters the other duelists had seen. The DEF of this monster was 2100. Zero looked from the robot that kneeled down before his owner to Ken, who stood behind him, her arms crossed over her chest with a grin on her face.

"You think that's gonna stop me? 2100 DEF pts.?" asked Zero.

"Well, I'm not done yet, because if I have the Volgara Harrier out on the field, I can play the upgraded Harrier from my hand by tributing him." replied Ken. "Volgara Harrier Mark II, Defense Mode!"

The Harrier began to warp in appearance until it's armor grew darker, now having a pair of yellow triangles on his breastplates, and his shoulder armor now had a large chunk carved out in the shape of it's own claws. Speaking of the Volgara's claws, they now had a blade attached to them. The new monster's DEF was 2500.

"There, that should be a great enough defense." said Ken. "And because this Monster Scout likes to be prepared, I'm gonna add throw in this baby facedown."

Hailey watched as Ken set a card in her Spell and Trap card slot, then looked up at Chris.

"What's a 'Monster Scout'?" she asked, curiously.

"It's from another of her video games." replied Chris.

"Robot Alchemic Drive?"

"Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker and Joker 2."

"...No further questions, Your Honor."

Hailey couldn't ask anything else if she wanted to anyways, for their conversation was interrupted by Fang's laughter.

"As if your foolish defenses could stop what I have in store for you!" the Beast duelist cackled. "If you thought that the Big Saturn and the Cyber Dinosaur were something to worry about, then get a load of this!"

Two Haniwa statues emerged on either side of his Dark Zebra, then all three vanished as Fang and Zero's life points decreased by another thousand, leaving them with 6000.

"What're you doing?" asked Rakaia. "Why are you getting rid of your Zebra if you're already paying two tributes?"

"I need to sacrifice three monsters for this creature, dragon duelist." stated Fang. "This may not be an Egyptian God Card, or a Wicked Beast, but this monster is mighty enough to destroy every card you've got."

Rose stared at him, wondering what he meant, then her eyes widened suddenly.

"Barbaros." she realized.

"Give the little lady a prize!" shouted Fang. "She's right!"

The statues and his monster disappeared, and a brown and black beast-like creature appeared onto the field, looking like a beastly centaur. The lower half of this monster resembled a dark-furred, demonic beast complete with hind legs and front legs, and a pointed tail, while the upper half resembled a tan-skinned beast-warrior, armed with a red, silver, and gold-trimmed lance and a blue and silver rounded shield. The monster also had a long, golden mane with a beastly red-eyed face. Pieces of gold metal were attached around it's face, and a matching belt was formed around it's middle. This monster had 3000 ATK.

"Great Dragon of Zenithia!" yelped Ken.

"What she said!" agreed Rakaia. "Wait, is that your equivalent of saying 'oh, crap'?"

"Yes, Rakaia."

"Okay. Then definitely what she said!"

"And it gets worse, since I made three sacrifices, I can destroy all the cards on your field!" Fang told them. "Say goodbye to your big, bad defensive line!"

Beast King Barbaros began to glow intensely with a burning red light, then the massive monster stopped glowing, and Ken and Rakaia's side of the field erupted in one big explosion. Hailey, Rose, Taryn, Jessi, Laura, Chris, and Ramon raised their arms or hands to shield themselves, while Ms. Lake and Luna looked away, until the effects of the blast passed.

"Time to move in for the kill." said Fang.

The smoke cleared, and the first thing he and Zero noticed was that Ken's set card was now face-up on the field.

"You lousy, cheating punk!" Zero exclaimed, furiously.

"Nope, just the effect of my Trap card activating before you decimated our field." Ken explained, grinning. "Evacuation Guidance Group's effect allows me to remove all monsters on our side of the field from play until the end of this turn, it only activates when they're in danger.

"So come my next turn, I'll hit back harder!" Rakaia declared, cracking his knuckles.

"That's if you live long enough!" Zero shot back. "Attack them!"

"With pleasure!" agreed Fang. "First I activate my Wild Nature's Release, and use it to increase my Beast King's ATK by it's DEF."

The DA students and their teacher watched as the giant beast-warrior's ATK grew from 3000 to 4200.

"Oh, boy." muttered Taryn.

"This isn't gonna be pretty." agreed Chris.

"Attack, Barbaros!" shouted Fang. "Strike those kids down with your Feral Lancer Shot!"

Beast King Barbaros raised it's lance and thrust it forward. A pair of laser-like blasts shot at both Rakaia and Ken, and struck them. Both felt only minor pain at first, but then they felt a strong electrical shock course through their bodies, causing them to howl in agony, while their life points dropped to 3800.

"Rakaia! Ken!" screamed Ms. Lake.

The other students watched, horrified, as the Meganite and dragon duelists fell on all fours, once the electrical shock wore off.

"Wh-What the hell was that?" asked Rakaia.

He looked over at Ken, who shook her head like an animal, as if trying to shake it off.

"You okay, buddy?" he asked.

"Considering you felt that too, that definitely did not feel like a dueldisk malfunctioning." Ken replied, looking down at her dueldisk.

Rakaia looked at his own dueldisk, then his gaze fell on the accessory on his wrist that he and Ken were forced to wear.

_"Wait a minute..."_ he thought.

Rakaia rose back to his feet, glaring at their opponents.

"What kind of sick game is this?!" he demanded.

"Whatever are you talking about, kid?" Zero asked, feigning innocence.

"These things you're making us wear! What are they?!"

"Just something to make the duel more interesting. If you've done your research on underground dueling, you'd know about this."

Ken rose back up on her feet, glaring at her opponents also.

"You call this making the duel interesting?!" she shouted, shaking an angry fist at them. "I call it a psychopath's way to duel!"

"Aw, nobody cares what you have to say, robogeek." Zero told her, with a lazy wave of his hand. "Now, let's move this duel along, so we can put you two flunkies in your place."

Rakaia then looked over at Ken.

"Ken, I think we need to step up our game, and fast." he spoke.

"Yeah, otherwise we'll end up leaving this school in body bags." his tag partner agreed, gulping.

* * *

Sorry for the late update, multiple writer's block issue, creativity burnout, and imagination overload all at once. Anyone else ever have these problems, even separately? Moving on, so, the duels have begun. I was going to make Rakaia and Ken have separate duels, then I decided to make it a tag duel, because I didn't know if it'd be a good idea making three different duels occur at once. And while I know the true effect of Mausoleum of the Emperor, I'm sticking to how the effect was used in Season 2 of GX.

Hailey Ryan is owned by Peach Wookiee, Luna Tenshi, and Crayus and Rakaia Meiyo are obviously owned by Rakaia The Dragon Duelist, Sega Rivera is owned by Sega herself, Will Rosen is owned by 15animefreak15, Laura is owned by Hyruleepona, Taryn and Jessi Yuki are owned by Dyusu, and finally Rose Renea is owned by maymay85985. As for my OCs, Ken, Matt, Kenneth, Chris, Bella, and Ramon, they're owned by me and my Duel Club familia, along with Tony Casimir, Ms. Erin Lake, and Underground Duelists Zero and Fang. Don't own the original series part of the plot, but I did tweak with it a bit. The main plot is owned by Kazuki Takahashi and everyone else who helped bring Yu-Gi-Oh! GX into this world. Robot Alchemic Drive is developed by Sandlot, and published by Enix, so I guess they own the game. The Meganite and Volgara cards are being posted up on Deviant Art.


	14. Triple Terror Pt 2

Ch.14- Triple Terror Pt. 2-

Rakaia and Ken both panted heavily, the shocks from the attack still affecting them. At the moment, their field was totally empty, and their life points stood at 3800. Zero and Fang, their opponents, had three massive monsters on their side of the field with over 2500 ATK each, and three set cards, an activated Mausoleum of the Emperor Field Spell in play, and an Axe of Despair Equip Spell that was being used by Zero's Big Saturn. Their life points, which stood at 6000, had hardly been touched, and were only brought down when paying 500 pts. per Haniwa tribute statue to bring out a monster. Four were used so far in the duel, two for Zero to summon the Big Saturn, and two to help Fang summon a fully-powered Beast King Barbaros with the help of his late Dark Zebra. The monsters on their opponent's side of the field were the least of the Academy duelists' worries, as they were still forced to wear the electrodes they were ordered to attach to themselves before the duel began. Nearby where the two Underground duelists were, Luna and Ms. Lake watched the duel from the large metal chairs that they were strapped to.

"What do you think their chances are?" asked Luna.

"Both teams are playing well, but with the way these guys are playing, and with those devices strapped onto the kids, it's going to be a hard, long duel." replied Ms. Lake.

"Aren't those things illegal though?"

"Yes, actually, but some people obviously don't give a care."

Fang smirked at his opponents, then took two cards from his hand.

"I'll set this card facedown, and before my turn, I have two more matters to deal with." he spoke, setting two cards into his Spell and Trap card slots. "I activate my Poison of the Old Man, but not to worry, kids, I'm using it to give us 1200 more life points. Though I'd like to see you two writhe in pain a little more."

_"Sadistic, little-" _Rakaia seethed inwardly.

He watched as Fang and Zero's life points rose from 6000 to 7200, and the Spell card Fang played digitized from the top down.

"Now I end my turn, and with that, my Beast King is destroyed." Fang finished, gesturing to his monster.

"And don't forget, our monsters come back, thanks to my Evacuation Guidance Group's effect." Ken reminded him.

Her Volgara Harrier II reappeared in Defense Mode, while her Gllang the Castlekeep Meganite and Rakaia's Red Eyes Black Dragon rose onto the field in Attack Mode. While Ken and Rakaia's monsters returned to the field, Fang's Beast King Barbaros exploded into digital pieces and went to the graveyard.

"I'm up!" Rakaia called, drawing his card. "And I have a move for you!"

He took another card from his hand, and held both it and the card he just drew up.

"I activate my Ancient Rules, which allows me to bring out a Level 5 or higher Normal Monster," the dragon duelist explained. "And I use it to summon the Rabidragon!"

He placed his new monster down onto the dueldisk and a massive, fluffy dragon which partly resembled a fluffy white bunny appeared onto the field with a dragonic roar. It had dragon wings, and hind legs, arms, claws, and a tail with scales that resembled an actual dragon's, but was also covered in white fluff, and had bunny ears, just like an actual bunny rabbit. This monster had 2950 ATK. Ken turned to the audience and chuckled, facefaulting.

_"I wager twenty bucks and all my gear that this was inspired by the bunny from Monty Python's Holy Grail movie."_ she thought, drily.

"Next I play my Dragon Heart, meaning I lose three dragons from my deck, but it's worth it so I can give my fluffy buddy a boost." said Rakaia.

As he picked out three dragon monsters from his deck, and sent them to the graveyard, Rabidragon's ATK went up to 3950.

"Alright, show them how scary you can really be!" commanded Rakaia. "Trouncing Body Slam!"

The bunny-dragon hybrid leapt into the air and made to bounce onto Fang, but Zero stepped in.

"I activate my Trap Card, Wall of Revealing Light!" he shouted, as his Trap Card flipped face up.

Their life points decreased by 4000, leaving them with 3200, and a near-transparent purple wall shot up before Zero and Fang, and Rabidragon collided into it. Rakaia growled, watching as his monster returned back to their side of the field.

"I paid 4000 of our score, just to prevent all monsters with 4000 or less ATK from attacking." Zero told them. "Oh, and Ken, that means not even your Vavel can touch us either."

"Bummer." muttered Ken.

"Meaning we've gotta get a bigger monster than your Vavel and my Rabidragon out on the field." spoke Rakaia.

"Well, if you kids are done now, I'd like to begin my turn." Zero called to them.

He drew his card, and smiled.

"Well, lucky you kids, I drew Card of Sanctity," he stated, playing it. "Now, let's all draw until we have six cards in our hand."

Fang drew five cards from his deck, while Rakaia, Ken, and Zero drew six cards each from their own decks. Zero looked up and saw that Ken was smirking at the cards in her hand.

"Draw something good, Kenny girl?" he asked, tauntingly.

"You could say that, it's no Vavel, but it's an awesome Meganite assist card." answered Ken.

_"Too bad you won't get the chance to use it."_ Zero thought, looking back at his own hand.

He took one card from his hand and sent it to the graveyard, then Rakaia saw that his dragon was glowing with an ominous purple aura.

"Hey, what the heck?!" he yelped.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm kinda borrowing your dragon for a while, dragon dork." Zero explained, as the Red Eyes monster joined his Cyber Dinosaur and Big Saturn on his side of the field.

"You can't do that!" shouted Ramon.

"Actually, I can, thanks to the card I just discarded. It's called the Electric Virus, and I can use it to take control of a Machine or Dragon these losers have our on the field, and I decided to pick Meiyo's favorite lizard."

Rakaia glared at his opponent. This guy was seriously starting to irritate him.

"Not to worry though, Rakaia, you can have your dragon back," Zero reassured him. "After I send it to it's grave!"

The machine deck-wielding Underground duelist took another card from his hand, and held it up.

"I activate Polymerization to fuse Cyber Dinosaur and Red Eyes Black Dragon to make the Panzer Dragon!" he announced.

"The what?" repeated Chris, Rose, and Jessi.

The duelists watched as the Cyber Dinosaur and Red Eyes Black Dragon fused to make a large silver and gold-trimmed metal dragon with attached to the top of a matching tank. The mechanical monster also had a metal dragon tail attached to the back of the tank, and a pair of plane wings on each side, with a tank's cannon emerging from the dragon's mouth. This monster had 2600 DEF.

"Oh, God, not that thing." Rakaia groaned, irritably. "Ken, whatever you do, don't attack it!"

"Why?" asked Ken.

"You take _it_ out, it can take something on _our_ field out!"

"...Double bummer."

"Not like the moron can do much come her turn anyways," Zero spoke, grinning evilly. "I activate my Big Saturn's effect. By sending one card from my hand to the grave, I can increase it's ATK by one grand, making it a much deadlier force to be reckoned with than Fang's Barbaros was."

Ken gulped, then looked up at her Gllang. Suddenly, she remembered that they had nothing to worry about.

"Hah, your Big Saturn doesn't scare me, Gllang's effect allows him to switch to Defense Mode when he's attacked!" she laughed, confidently.

"That's right, and it doesn't matter how strong Big Saturn gets." Hailey piped up. "Gllang can still protect their life points."

"Meaning they don't get shocked again!" cheered Taryn.

"We'll see about that! Go, Trap card!" Zero shouted, thrusting his hand forward.

His other Trap flipped face-up, and to their collective horror, it was the Skill Drain Trap card. Zero grinned as his and Fang's life points decreased by another 1000, leaving them with 2200.

"Big Saturn, strike down her pathetic excuse of a robot!" he cackled, gleefully. "Despairing Hack Attack!"

Ken and Rakaia watched as the Planet card raised the massive axe over it's head, and brought it down over Gllang, cleaving it in half, destroying it. The two Academy duelists watched as their life points dwindled down to 1200, and felt another painful electrical shock coursing through their bodies, making them scream in pain once again.

"Enough!" Ms. Lake roared, thrashing against the straps binding her to the chair. "You'll kill them!"

"She's right, stop it now!" Chris agreed, angrily.

"Interfere, and we'll keep it going until they're fried from the inside out." Zero threatened them, holding up a remote. "And then we'll do the same to these two."

Chris, Hailey, and the others could do nothing but watch as their friends collapsed onto the ground, gasping and wincing from the pain.

"I don't know how much more of this I can take, dude." Ken said, looking at Rakaia.

"I hear ya, but it could've been worse." Rakaia told her. "Do you think you can turn this around long enough for me to come up with something?"

Ken looked back down at her hand, and looked back at Rakaia, nodding. The two of them rose back up to their feet, a little shaken up still from the shock.

"Oh, kiddies, I'm not done yet!" sang Zero.

He held up discarded one card from his hand again, and set another card into the Spell and Trap card slot.

"I play my Lightning Vortex, and since I just sent a card from my hand to the grave, I can destroy all face-up monsters you both have in play!" explained Zero.

A storm cloud formed above the group of people once again, and two lightning bolts crashed down on Rakaia's last dragon and Ken's Volgara Harrier II, disintegrating them.

"It's your turn, Kenny girl," Zero told Ken, smiling wickedly. "But you better make it count, because it's all on you now. You fail to make a good enough move, you all die. No pressure though."

Ken gulped, and looked down at her deck.

_"'No pressure' my foot."_ she thought. _"He's right though. I've gotta play a bigger move."_

She shut her eyes tightly, and held her breath as she prepared to draw her next card.

"Come on, Ken." Hailey prayed, crossing her fingers. "You can do this."

Ken exhaled deeply and drew her card.

"Mind if I offer some assistance?" a deep, masculine, mechanical voice spoke to her.

Ken opened one eye to look at the card, and saw that it was another Meganite monster. A darker Meganite.

_"Yeah, maybe you can get us out of this mess!"_ she pondered inwardly.

Ken put the card she drew in her hand, and then took another one out, and placed it in her Spell and Trap card slot.

"I play Meganite's Rising, which allows me to remove from play three monsters from either my hand or our graveyard to bring out a Meganite from my hand or deck." she explained, as she took out another card. "And if Rakaia agrees to spare a few more, I'll do just that. Rakaia?"

"As long as you bring out a kick-butt monster, go right ahead!" Rakaia replied, nodding at her.

"But before she does, I'm activating my Trap, Call of the Haunted," announced Fang, as his card flipped up. "So I can bring back Barbaros!"

Beast King Barbaros re-emerged onto the field in Attack Mode, roaring angrily at it's opponents.

"Yeah, yeah." Ken said, with a lazy wave of her hand. "Anyways, I'm gonna remove three more of Rakaia's dragons to bring out Valdor, the Dark Meganite!"

Zero glanced at her, confused.

"'Valdor'?" he repeated.

"You can consider him Vavel's twin brother." Ken described, smirking.

Rakaia watched as three orbs of light rose from his graveyard slot, and then moved to his deck case. Next, the duelists watched as Ken slapped down a card on her dueldisk, and a blue and dark gray robot resembling Vavel appeared onto the field. The other main difference was the head shape, which made Valdor look like he was wearing a large blue metal cap. This monster had 2500 ATK. Zero and Fang exchanged mystified glances, then looked back at Valdor, cracking up laughing.

"Oh, that's priceless!" Fang laughed, pointing at Valdor. "You're going to take us on, with that weak little toy?!"

"I'm not finished yet!" Ken retorted, holding up another card. "Go, Meganite Evolution! With this, by paying half of our life points, I can banish my Valdor in order to upgrade him to his next mode! Valdor, initiate Volcanic Mode, and become Valdor the Volcanic Shadow!"

Valdor grunted, and thrust out his arms, causing the top and bottom sides of his arms to fold back, along with his underarms. Then upon lowering his arms down again, parts of his shoulders unfolded, making spiked shoulder accessories. His ATK pts. jumped up to 3800, while Ken and Rakaia's life points dropped down to 600. They felt another shock hit them, and gritted their teeth in an attempt to fight the pain.

"Are you kidding?!" snapped Zero. "All that retard's robot did was rearrange parts of it's arms and shoulders! What kind of lame-o trash is that?!"

Both Ken and Valdor then felt their tempers reach a boiling point, and their friends saw that there would be no mercy shown for the rest of the duel.

"Permission to waste the scumbag?" asked Valdor.

"Easy, Valdor, we'll get him. In due time." Ken replied, in a controlled tone. "I equip my Valdor with the Spell card 'Wiltz's Battle Mech Upgrade Lv. 1'. You see, in the game, you can upgrade your Meganites to make them stronger, but in a duel, I can't deal battle damage with the one equipped to this Spell."

Valdor became enveloped in a thin blue aura-like veil, and his ATK shot up to 4800.

"Well, on the bright side, we've finally got something that can overpower their wall." said Rakaia.

"Valdor, attack!" shouted Ken. "Shadow Dual Knuckles, fire!"

Valdor closed his massive hands into fists, and thrusted them forward in front of him, then they ejected from the end of the mech's arms like rockets. The projectiles sailed through the air, and struck Beast King Barbaros in the face and the gut. The beast-warrior was destroyed instantly, and the two fists returned to their rightful places on Valdor's arms, locking in place once again.

"Why didn't she go for the Big Saturn?" Rakaia wondered aloud, but quiet enough so that the others couldn't hear him.

"Since it's no longer my Battle Phase, Valdor's ATK goes back to 3800." Ken concluded, slipping a card into her Spell and Trap card slot. "I'll end my turn with a facedown card."

"Good, you and your toys were starting to bore me, geekazoid." Fang started, as he drew his card.

"Enough with the flippin' name calling already, dude. I'm starting to get really annoyed more than I am getting irritated."

"Yeah, what a couple of bad sports." Hailey agreed, frowning.

Fang looked over his hand, and smirked.

"I play Monster Reincarnation, allowing me to discard a card, and put my Beast King Barbaros back in my hand." he said, as he placed two cards in his graveyard slot. "And thanks to my Beast King's effect, I can Normal Summon him, but his effect makes his ATK 1900."

"However with Skill Drain still in play, that effect's cancelled out the moment he's on the field, making it go back up to 3000." Zero interrupted, smiling.

True enough, when Beast King Barbaros was Summoned onto the field, his ATK rose from 1900 up to his normal 3000 ATK.

"But he's not sticking around for long, as I will be sacrificing him to play something even stronger." Fang told his opponents. "First though, I'll need the other half of my tribute, so I'll take a page from my partner's book, and steal a monster using my Monster Reborn."

Ken noticed that her graveyard slot was glowing, and a ray of light shot out of it, then it curved over to Fang and Zero's field, forming into Gllang the Castlekeep Meganite.

"Next I'll sacrifice the Machine Gllang, and the Beast-Warrior Barbaros, in order to bring out the Beast Machine King Barbaros Ur!" announced Fang.

"Oh, great." groaned Ken.

"A bigger, mechanical annoyance." Rakaia agreed, facepalming.

Gllang disappeared once again, as did the Beast King Barbaros, and then the pillars of light merged to form a darker version of Beast King Barbaros but with gold and red armor and lances, and longer hair and a beard now. This monster's ATK was 3800.

"Great, now they have two monsters with 3800 ATK." groaned Rakaia.

"Yes, and it seems only the action figure is the only thing that stands in the way of our victory, as my partner's Skill Drain disables my new monster's battle damage negation effect." said Fang. "That can be rectified, as I use my Rush Recklessly Spell to give my Machine Beast King the boost it needs to finish this."

Beast Machine King Barbaros Ur's ATK rose from 3800 to 4500, causing Rakaia to gulp.

"Oh, boy." he muttered.

"Barbaros, destroy Valdor!" Fang roared, thrusting his hand forward. "Mechanical Feral Strike!"

The Beast Machine King charged forward and lunged it's lance at Valdor, ready to finish the duel, until...

"Activate Trap!" Ken shouted, pressing a button on her dueldisk. "Phantom Defense Mechanism, go!"

Her facedown card flipped up, and Valdor warped out of harm's way, and avoided the attack. Rakaia breathed a sigh of relief, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"That was too close." Ken muttered, as Barbaros and Valdor returned to their respective sides of the field.

"Lucky, little runt." Zero growled, fuming.

"Do humanity and animal kind alike a favor and shut up already, you're starting to bore me."

Seeing as there was nothing left to do, Fang set a card facedown and ended his turn.

"I'll leave it up to you, Zero." Fang told his partner. "Finish them on your next turn."

"With pleasure." said Zero.

Rakaia prepared to draw his card, then he heard a voice calling out to him.

"Rakaia!" a masculine voice spoke. "Rakaia, can you hear me?"

Rakaia took care to only look around with his eyes. If he was losing his mind right now, he didn't want his friends or the two psycho duelists to know.

"Rakaia, destroy the Big Saturn." the voice spoke again. "Do it, and you will win the duel."

_"Why?" _Rakaia asked, mentally. _"Why would I destroy it? Even if I got a monster out on the field strong enough to take it down, it'd just bite us in the butt again."_

"Trust me."

The voice faded away, and the dragon duelist drew his next card. To his surprise, it was a Spell card called "Hammer Shot".

"Creepy." Rakaia muttered, darkly. "But should I?"

"Yes, but you must take down the Barbaros monster first." the voice instructed him. "Bring me back to the field, then use me to bring out your stronger dragon."

Rakaia looked at his graveyard, confused, then looked back at his hand, and his eyes fell upon a turquiose dragon that was in his hand. Then the black and red-haired teen cracked a smile.

"Of course!" he breathed. "That's it!"

Zero and Fang stared at him, confused, and then Rakaia took another card from his hand and held it up.

"I play Silent Doom, and with this, I can bring back a Normal Monster back from the grave in Defense Mode!" he announced. "And I choose my Red Eyes!"

His graveyard shone in a bright golden light, and the Red Eyes Black Dragon re-emerged onto the field, roaring eagerly.

"Next, I sacrifice him to bring out my Strong Wind Dragon!" Rakaia continued, placing another card down onto his dueldisk.

Red Eyes disappeared almost as quickly as it reappeared, and in it's place was a bipedal turquiose dragon with bluish-tan wings and amber eyes. This monster's ATK was 2400.

"What's cool about this big guy is that when the tribute used to bring him out was a Dragon, half of it's ATK is added to the Strong Wind's!" explained Rakaia. "Giving it a grand total of 3600!"

"So what?!" snapped Fang. "It's still not enough to take on either of our best monsters!"

"You're right, we'll have to fix that with a couple of Spell cards! First I play Dragon's Treasure, which gives any Dragons it equips to 300 ATK and DEF pts., then my Banner of Courage, which gives it 200 more bonus ATK during the Battle Phase."

Strong Wind Dragon became enveloped in a royal purple colored veil as it's ATK shot up to 4100, making it now powerful enough to take down the upgraded Barbaros and overcome the Wall of Revealing Light.

"Strong Wind Dragon, attack his Barbaros!" commanded Rakaia. "Infernal Aeroblast!"

The new dragon opened it's mouth and shot a stream of teal-colored flames at Machine Beast King Barbaros Ur, and incinerated it, along with 300 of Zero and Fang's life points, leaving them at 1900.

"Is that all you've got?!" demanded Fang. "Because if it is, we'll finish you next turn!"

"There won't be a next turn for you guys!" Rakaia shot back. "I've got cards left to be played, and I'll use them this turn!"

_"Only question is how do I kill Big Saturn?"_ he wondered to himself.

"Get rid of Skill Drain first, Rakaia." the mysterious voice called out to him.

_"That'll work."_

"First, my Mystical Space Typhoon, to destroy Skill Drain!" the dragon duelist announced aloud, as he held up a card.

He placed it into the Spell and Trap slot, and a storm kicked up on the field again, wiping out Zero's Skill Drain with a gust of wind. Once the storm settled down, Rakaia took another card from his hand, and held it up.

"Now, I play my Block Attack Spell, which allows me to switch a monster from Attack Mode to Defense, and I choose my dragon." he continued, sending it to the graveyard. "Yeah, I know what you're thinking, kind of a risky move, but like I said, you guys won't get another turn."

"There's one last card in your hand, boy," Zero reminded him. "Make sure it counts."

"It will, because it's Hammer Shot!"

"Hammer Shot? Whatever will you use that on?"

"Good question, since both Ken's Valdor and your Saturn have the same ATK right now, due to the Upgrade Equip Spell not able to affect Valdor at the moment, I have to choose who gets the boot."

_"Mystery voice, I hope you're right about this."_ Rakaia thought, gulping nervously.

He raised an arm and pointed at Big Saturn, much to most of the audience's surprise, and Fang and Zero's delight.

"Big Saturn, you're out!" announced Rakaia.

A giant mallet materialized onto the field and smashed the Planet card like a bug, killing it.

"You're an even bigger dumbass than Special Ed over there!" cackled Zero. "When Big Saturn's taken out by an effect, we both take damage equal to it's ATK! Nice going, moron!"

Back with the others behind the Academy duelists dueling, the seven of them groaned and griped at what Rakaia did.

"What was he thinking?!" yelled Ramon.

"Now they're going to get shocked again!" agreed Laura.

"Actually, our life points won't be touched by the Big Saturn's effect at all." Ken spoke up.

Everyone turned to her, staring at her in confusion. Rakaia noted that Ken was grinning confidently, which meant that she had something.

"Skill Drain's gone, so Valdor has his effect again." the latter explained, looking up at her Meganite. "While this big guy's on the field, and is in Volcanic Mode, we don't take damage from card effects."

"Say what?!" yelped Fang.

"No way!" growled Zero.

Rakaia couldn't help but smile, the bad guys' underestimation of their decks had resulted in their defeat. Good things never did come from bad sportsmanship. The Big Saturn's effect created an explosion that affected both sides of the field, but Valdor created a forcefield in time that shielded himself and his allies from the blast. Zero and Fang watched as their life points dropped down to 0, and the dueldisks deactivated. Rakaia heaved a sigh of relief, then looked around for the source of the voice that had assisted him.

_"Down here."_ the voice spoke once more.

The dragon duelist looked down at his dueldisk and saw the Red Eyes Black Dragon card out of the graveyard slot. He took it out and examined it.

"Did you help me?" he asked.

"Yes, I did." the card replied. "It seems you're now able to hear me. Took you long enough."

Rakaia stared at the card in surprise, then looked over at Ken, who was busy tearing off the electrodes from her person. He looked back at his card, and blinked.

"Is this normal?" he asked, slowly.

"Well, only a small group of people can speak to monster spirits, but we'll get to the rest of the lecture later." Red Eyes Black Dragon replied, calmly. "You've got business to take care of."

Rakaia nodded, realizing he still had a mission to complete. He looked up towards where his opponents were standing, only to discover that they fled. Taryn, Laura, Ramon, and Jessi were busy freeing their captive friends from their prisons, while Hailey and Rose hung back to help Ken free the last electrode from her neck and left ankle.

"Hold still, you goofball!" Hailey scolded her friend.

She tugged the device off, but at the same time, accidentally pulled too hard, causing Ken to fall backward and hit her head on the ground.

"Dude, what's the world got against my head?" the tomboyish punk groaned.

"You make it too easy." replied Rose.

"Haha."

Rakaia laughed also, as he started to remove his own electrodes. This had become quite a night, but it was not yet over. They didn't know where they were, and they didn't know if their other friends were alright. The two bad guys they had fought would get away for now, as they needed to find Jaden and the others fast. Rakaia joined the trio beside him, and nodded at the door.

"Anyone know how to get out of here?" he asked.

"I might." Ms. Lake replied, briskly.

She and the others rejoined them, her and Luna rubbing their wrists to get the blood flowing in them again.

"Where are Jaden, Syrus, and Chumley?" asked Ms. Lake.

"Taking on another thug, trying to rescue Alexis." answered Hailey.

"Oh, God."

She strode toward the door, and began leading her students back to the Abandoned Dorm.

* * *

Back with Jaden, Syrus, and Chumley, Jaden was still dueling Titan, who was in the lead with a full 4000 life points, while he himself was down to 2000. It was still his turn, but he had no cards out on the field, as his Thunder Giant was recently destroyed by the effect of Terrorking Archfiend. Titan's other monster was the Infernalqueen Archfiend, which was able to power up each Archfiend by 1000 ATK, which spelt trouble for the E-Hero duelist. Titan chuckled at Jaden, who was helpless for the moment in this situation.

"Your destiny is set, soon my Archfiend deck will finish off all your monsters, and my Millennium item will finish off your soul!" declared Titan. "I bet you're hardly doing any better than your friends are right now."

Jaden growled, and picked another card from his hand to continue his turn.

"This match isn't over yet! My friends are tough, and so am I!" he retorted, confidently. "I've still got a few cards up my sleeve, like this one. Mirage of Nightmare!"

He placed the card into the Spell and Trap card slot, and it appeared face-up on the field. Then Jaden placed his last two cards down facedown beside it.

"And I'll throw down a couple of facedowns while I'm at it!" he finished.

"Don't waste my time, your life points won't last long enough for you to use anymore of your cards!" Titan assured him. "Alexis' soul will soon be gone, and so will yours!"

He drew his card, and declared that his turn had begun, when Jaden spoke up.

"Hold on, I think you're forgetting something!" he said. "Mirage lets me draw until I have four cards in my hand!"

"So go ahead then," Titan challenged him. "You could have four million, and it still wouldn't defend you against the crushing power of my monster! Allow my Terrorking Archfiend to give you an example!"

Said fiend monster roared eagerly, knowing it was ready for it to strike again.

"Attack!" Titan commanded his monster. "Locust Storm Barrage!"

Another round of locusts emerged from the chest of the monster, aiming to attack Jaden directly.

"Talk about butterflies in your stomach." groaned Jaden. "Good thing I played a Trap card, Mirror Gate!"

He raised an arm, and one of his set cards flipped up. Another forcefield rose up before Jaden, as the locusts drew closer.

"Say goodbye to all your monsters in Attack Mode!" said Jaden.

Syrus and Chumley smiled cheerfully as well, as this meant Jaden had one-upped his opponent.

"Totally 'licious!" Chumley exclaimed, happily. "If Jaden keeps this up, we can finally get out of here! And with Alexis, too!"

His statement proved correct, as the Terrorking Archfiend was not able to use it's roulette effect on cards like Mirror Force. The forcefield sent it's attack straight back at it and the Infernalqueen Archfiend, destroying them. The force of the blast was enough to make Titan raise an arm to shield himself, as well as infuriate him a little. He lowered his arm and glared at Jaden.

"How dare you!" he barked.

"How? 'Cause I'm daring, I guess." Jaden joked, grinning.

"Well, let's see how daring you are after this!"

Titan grinned and took out a card from his hand, and held it up for Jaden to see. It appeared to be another Monster card.

"By using Desrook Archfiend's special effect, it allows me to resurrect Terrorking Archfiend by sending this card to the graveyard." he explained, discarding it. "Say hello to a not-so old friend."

True enough, the Terrorking Archfiend rose from the grave once more in Attack Mode, but now had just 2000 ATK without it's ally providing the 1000 ATK boost.

"Him again?!" complained Jaden.

He was starting to get sick of this monster already, and thought he'd seen the last of it.

"And now I activate the effect of the Field Spell card Pandemonium." said Titan. "It's powerful magic allows me to draw a new Archfiend if one of my Archfiend monsters is ever sent to the graveyard."

A card shot out from his dueldisk, and he caught it, glancing down at it.

"Of course this new Archfiend can't be as powerful, but then my Terrorking Archfiend is packing more than enough power as it is!" the Shadow duelist continued. "Now, let's try this again! Locust Storm Barrage!"

Once again, locusts flew out of the Archfiend's chest, and charged at Jaden.

"Will this storm ever let up?!" complained Chumley.

Jaden however had a plan B set up just in case his Mirror Force didn't take Terrorking Archfiend down, and now it was time to initiate it.

"Go, Emergency Provisions!" he called out, as his other facedown flipped up. "This Spell card allows me to sacrifice another Spell or Trap card and get back a thousand life points."

With that, his Mirage of Nightmare Spell card vanished along side his Emergency Provisions, and he gained another 1000 life points just in time. Jaden raised his arms to brace himself for impact as the locusts struck him, and took out another two grand of his points, leaving him with the one thousand he had just gained seconds ago.

"You still stand?!" growled Titan.

"As long as I got two good legs." replied Jaden.

Titan chuckled in response, as he held up his Millennium item once again.

"But your legs are not good," he told the boy. "And now with this latest strike on your life points, neither are your arms!"

The pyramid-shaped object lit up with a golden light once again, and more of Jaden's body began to disappear.

"Aw, man, Jaden's fading really fast!" exclaimed Syrus.

Jaden looked down at himself, noticing that more of himself was vanishing.

_"Talk about hanging on by a limb!"_ he thought.

"Better make this turn count!" the Slifer Red student said, drawing his card. "Alright, I use the Spell card The Warrior Returning Alive, which brings back Elemental Hero Avian!"

He discarded his now used up Spell card and then waited for his monster to eject from the graveyard slot, then put it in his hand. Next the revived Hero and Burstinatrix emerged onto the field as Jaden held up his Polymerization card and their cards.

"Now, fuse with Burstinatrix and create the Elemental Hero Flame Wingman!" called Jaden.

The two monsters merged until they created a giant ball of light, then emerging from it was the Elemental Hero Flame Wingman.

"Now, what do you say we turn up the heat in here, Wingman?!" declared Jaden. "Attack with Infernal Rage!"

The new Hero charged into battle and reared back it's left arm, and shot it forward again, letting a jet of flames shoot out of the red dragon head attached to his hand. The flames consumed the Terrorking Archfiend and incinerated it, creating a massive explosion that caused Titan to raise an arm to protect himself from the blast.

"Oh, by the way, did I mention his superpower?" asked Jaden. "Your beasties won't be the only one hurting, you will too! You take damage equal to your destroyed monster's ATK pts.!"

A surge of electricity washed over Titan, decimating 2100 of his life points, leaving him at 1900. Also, Syrus and Chumley took notice that Titan's body parts were starting to vanish now.

"Parts of him are starting to disappear now too, Chumley!" whispered Syrus.

"Think that could work on my waist line?" asked Chumley.

Back over on the dueling field, Titan glared at Jaden, not exactly shaken up about the attack nor the loss of his mighty monster.

"It matters not, because I have yet another Desrook Archfiend!" he announced, taking a card from his hand. "I simply discard him to bring back my Terrorking! There's no escaping him!"

The Shadow duelist discarded his second Desrook Archfiend, and raised his arm toward his field.

"Rise again, Terrorking!" commanded Titan.

The duelists watched as the Terrorking Archfiend appeared onto the field once again, much to Jaden's dismay.

"This guy's really overstaying his welcome!" groaned the E-Hero duelist. "I gotta find a way to get rid of him somehow, but first, I gotta protect myself with Dark Catapulter!"

He placed a card down onto his dueldisk sideways, and emerging onto the field in a guarding-like stance beside the Flame Wingman was a dark gray, purple, and dark golden mechanical, bipedal creature with a dragon-like head. This new monster had 1500 DEF.

"Now come on and do your worst!" challenged Jaden.

"You want my worst? You should be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it." Titan warned him, drawing his card. "Especially when this card's in the mix!"

The Terrorking Archfiend then disappeared, much to Jaden and his two roommates' dread. Then Titan held up the card he just drew.

"I sacrifice my Terrorking Archfiend, and call forth the Skull Archfiend of Lightning!" he announced, as he placed it onto his dueldisk.

In an burst of electrical energy, a new skeletal, demonic creature rose up onto the field. It resembled the Summoned Skull greatly, and shared the same ATK of 2500 as the original did, but this fiend seemed to be much more dangerous.

"You wanted my worst? Well now you have it!" shouted Titan. "Every last super-charged volt!"

Jaden watched as the Skull Archfiend of Lightning sent out a huge bolt of electrical energy that shot out towards his Flame Wingman. The blast decimated the Hero within seconds, and wiped out 400 of Jaden's life points, but the decrease in life points was the least of his worries at the moment.

"Aw, man." moaned Syrus.

"Jaden!" cried Chumley.

Jaden tried to keep himself together, but it was getting harder by the second.

_"I've gotta hang on!" _he reminded himself mentally. _"For Alexis!"_

Titan held up his Millennium item once more, and it began to glow again. Jaden's eyes flickered as he began to feel the familiar effects of the item take it's toll on him.

"Look into my Millennium item," Titan's voice spoke to him. "And feel yourself drifting further into the Shadows. You are defeated. Your life points are all but gone. Soon, you'll be nothing more than a hollow, soulless shell! Feel yourself drifting. Drifting. Drifting."

Jaden could barely hear him, as he felt suddenly fatigued, and collapsed onto one knee. The world was spinning, images were blurring, until everything was starting to go dark.

_"I...I can't see anymore..."_ he thought, his eyelids feeling heavier and heavier. _"What's happening to me?"_

Before he knew it, the world went dark, and everything completely shut down. Titan chuckled, as his item ceased glowing.

"He can't even stand up!" gasped Chumley.

"Jaden!" Syrus called out to his friend.

Jaden didn't respond, he didn't have the strength to. Titan just watched his opponent grow weaker and weaker, grinning at the state he was in.

_"Look at him suffering, the Shadows are a powerful weapon indeed. Even the ones simply in your mind." _he thought, laughing. _"If only he knew. Well, kid, at least you're not dueling the other two that were with me. You'd never last as long with them as you have with me."_

While Titan was watching his teenage opponent kneeling on the ground, nobody seemed to notice that Jaden's deck was starting to glow. Then a soft cooing sound called out, alerting Jaden, who was still out of it. Then a small orb of golden light flew out of the deck, and Jaden opened his eyes, looking up to see that the orb was flying around him.

_"Hey, that you, Winged Kuriboh?"_ Jaden asked, mentally.

The orb of light continued to fly around him, not answering his question. Jaden however knew that it was his furry friend.

_"What is it, pal? You...trying to tell me something?" _he asked again.

The orb of light now began circling around in front of Jaden, but now it was circling around in an infinity-shaped pattern.

_"Whoa, stay steady, would you?"_ Jaden told his friend. _"With that bright light, you're gonna hypnotize me quicker than you help me."_

Then it suddenly hit him. He opened his eyes, quickly noting that he lost consciousness for a moment, then he remembered what the Winged Kuriboh was trying to show him.

_"That's it!"_ thought Jaden. _"That's what you're trying to tell me! We're not playing in the Shadows, _he's _playing with my mind!"_

He then rose back up on his feet, now feeling his usual, energetic self again.

"Well no more, I got this Shadow game scam figured out." declared Jaden.

His sudden spoken epiphany reached the ears of his friends, who were confused once again.

"Did he just say Shadow game scam?" Chumley wondered aloud.

"What's he mean?" asked Syrus.

"I mean, my soul's not on the serving plate anymore." replied Jaden. "Let's keep going! My turn!"

Titan watched as the boy drew his card, shocked that he was looking much better again.

_"What's happening?!"_ he wondered, taken aback. _"Why isn't he scared anymore?"_

Jaden looked down at his Dark Catapulter, who now had a small, golden orb shining over it's head, then looked back at his opponent.

"First I'm gonna activate my Dark Catapulter's special ability, it allows me to remove one card from my graveyard for every turn Catapulter was in Defense Mode!" he began. "Then for every card I remove, I get to destroy one Trap or Spell card out in play!"

As he said this, his graveyard began shining, and the Dark Catapulter got into position.

"So, since he was in Defense Mode for one turn, I'll remove Avian," Jaden continued, taking the designated card from his graveyard. "And now, I'll destroy your Pandemonium card! Storm Shower Blast!"

The Dark Catapulter fired it's own jet of electricity at Titan, who gulped as it drew closer to him.

"Uh-oh." he groaned.

The dark duelist raised his arm to protect himself from the blast, but upon contact, the demonic field shattered like glass and the field returned to normal. The blast faded, and Syrus and Chumley looked around to see that they were back in the room in the Abandoned Dorm again. Alexis was still in the coffin that was laying against the wall right behind Titan, but unfortunately, she was still out of it. Titan however was not impressed, as he held up his Millenium item.

"So what?!" he snapped, as the item began to glow. "You still haven't destroyed this!"

Jaden was ready this time, and he smirked.

"You oughta be careful what you wish for!" Jaden warned him, echoing Titan's earlier words. "You might just get it!"

He flung his Avian card over at Titan and it pierced the Millennium item, directly in the eye decorated onto the object. The light faded immediately, and Titan looked down at the object, shocked.

"What did you do?!" he demanded.

To Syrus and Chumley's surprise, Jaden and Titan's bodies began restoring back to normal.

"Alright, Jaden!" cheered Syrus. "You got your body back!"

"I never lost it." Jaden explained to him. "This Shadow game was just a big fake."

This statement confused his two friends even more, as they turned to look at Titan.

"It was all just hypnosis, a whole lot of smoke and mirrors to make me think I was losing my soul." Jaden continued, pointing at his opponent. "This guy's a complete sham! I mean he's probably just some out of work carny!"

This accusation seemed to hit at home for Titan, who took a step back.

"I'm not out of work!" he defended himself. "I can get my job back at the fair anytime I want!"

"Yeah, I'm sure that you could! And I'm sure that paper mache Millennium item goes over real well with the kiddies!"

Titan began to sweat even more, as he looked down at his now useless accessory.

"No! Be quiet!" he shouted. "It's real! I'm real!"

"You're a sideshow phony." said Jaden.

Titan was looking really nervous now, then he appeared very serious again.

"You fool! You forget!" he suddenly stated.

Jaden looked at him, confused for a moment, then Titan smirked as he continued on.

"The girl!" he said.

Jaden's expression changed into one of realization, as he had forgotten all about the blond-haired Obelisk.

"Alexis." gasped Chumley.

"That's right! Imprisoned in a Shadow Tomb, her soul is festering in the dark recesses of the Netherworld!" Titan told them, going back into character. "That proves this Millennium Pendant is real! What do you have to say to that?!"

Syrus and Chumley looked at each other, stunned. However, Jaden wasn't fooled.

"Besides you're a big dunce?" he asked. "See, all the Millennium items were sketched on the inside of this dorm, and yours would be called the 'Millenium Puzzle', not 'pendant'."

Titan appeared to look nervous again, as he had been caught in the act once again.

"You don't have Alexis' soul, you never did!" declared Jaden. "So hand her over, and hand over all the other kids you snatched! Including Luna and Ms. Lake!"

"'Other kids'? I don't know what you're talking about!" Titan replied, confused. "And because of your earlier carny comment, you can find your friend by yourself, but know this. The woman and the female my associates abducted? I don't know where they are, but I assure you of this, their captors are far more dangerous than I am."

"How's that?"

"I mean that they're not Shadow duelists, they're Underground duelists who play by illegal rules. I doubt that the people dueling them will fare any better than you did, or anyone else that ever dueled them!"

Syrus and Chumley's eyes widened in shock, then Jaden nodded at Syrus. Syrus understood what he was getting at, and took out his PDA and tried to contact Hailey or anyone else from the other group, but got nothing.

"There's no response!" said Syrus.

"Where are they?!" Jaden demanded, glaring at Titan.

Titan responded by throwing down something, and a cloud of smoke filled the spot where he was standing.

"No way, you're not getting out of here that easy!" said Jaden. "Come here!"

He began to take chase after Titan, but he failed to noticed that lights began shining from the mouths of the stone demon heads that accessorized the room. Eight beams of light shot towards the center of the room, and the Millenium eye began to glow on the ground, causing the Slifer Red student to stop in his tracks.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Jaden.

Hearing his exclamation, Titan stopped and turned around. To his surprise, he saw the eye glowing brighter and brighter.

"How'd you do this trick?!" asked Jaden.

"I didn't!" replied Titan.

"...This way!" a female voice shouted.

"Are you sure this time?" another female asked.

"Positive."

"I ask again, are you sure this time?"

"Shut up and keep running!" a male voice now snapped.

Jaden, Syrus, Chumley, and Titan turned around to see Ms. Lake and the other ten students finally arrived into the room, and they stopped beside the Slifers that were on the sidelines.

"Hey, you're all okay!" cheered Syrus.

Ken looked over at the eye on the ground, and her eyes widened a little in shock.

"What in the name of Zenithia is that?!" she demanded.

"No idea." replied Syrus.

Then a swirl of dark fog filled the room, and Jaden and Titan were caught in the middle of the windstorm.

"What the...?!" Jaden exclaimed, surprised.

Ken and Rakaia looked at each other and nodded once, then broke into a mad dash towards their friend and the Shadow duelist.

"Guys, wait!" Hailey screamed, rushing forward.

"What is with this group and charging into these things like this?!" Chris griped, joining her.

The four of them headed into the storm of fog, then the smoky fog grew larger and larger, until the storm settled down. The smoke began to shrink until it formed into a dome of pitch black energy with electric sparks shooting around it.

"Jaden!" Syrus called, drawing closer to the energy field. "Where'd they-"

"Nobody touches it!" Ms. Lake told her students. "I mean it!"

"I can do that." said Chumley.

"But,...what is it?" asked Rose.

Inside the Shadow Realm-

Jaden, Rakaia, Ken, Hailey, Chris, and Titan stood within the dome, looking around to see where they were.

"What is this place?!" asked Titan. "Where am I?!"

"Come on, enough tricks already!" snapped Jaden.

"A trick?! I can't do something like this!"

"Look, can we all stop shouting and try to figure a way out of here?!" Hailey shouted, looking at them. "This place doesn't exactly feel too welcoming!"

"She's right, I'm getting a mondo bad feeling in my gut just standing in here." Ken agreed, looking from side to side.

"Ken, do you still have your grappling hook on you?" asked Chris.

Ken nodded and took it out, then she swung it around a few times, then chucked it up into the air. The hooked device flew into the air for a moment, then gravity kicked in, causing it to fall back down onto her head. Ken gave a yelp of pain as her eyes became replaced with the spiral symbols.

"Hello!" she exclaimed, stumbling around in place.

Then after a moment, she fell forward onto the ground face first.

"That didn't work." sighed Rakaia.

Titan then looked to the side, and saw dozens of little black blobs with demonic faces raining down from somewhere in the area. The creatures then swarmed towards the group, who stepped back away from them.

"What are these things?!" asked Chris.

"Freaky-looking, I'll give you that!" replied Jaden.

Hailey saw Ken, who was back up again, aiming to attack the little creatures, and moved to restrain her by holding her in a full nelson.

"Stop! Maybe they're harmless!" she reasoned with her friend. "We don't attack them, they don't attack us."

"Help, they're attacking!" Titan's voice cried out.

The two of them looked to see a swarm of blobs attaching themselves to the Shadow duelist, who was trying and failing to fight them off.

"Okay, I stand corrected." muttered Hailey.

"Can I be fisthappy now?" asked Ken.

Before she could get her answer, they heard Titan shout again, calling out for help, until the blobs began shoving themselves down his throat, mufflings his screams.

"On second thought, pass-adena." said Ken.

Jaden and the others watched in shock as Titan was assaulted by the mysterious creatures, until they noticed that the creatures were about to attack them next.

"Ken, be fisthappy!" Chris screamed, startled by the fiends' swarming around them. "Get fisthappy on them!"

_"Oh, now you want me to be a hothead." _Ken thought, glaring at him. _"Make up your minds, people."_

Jaden shook his head, as he watched the two argue, then heard a familiar hoot. He looked down at his dueldisk and watched as a mass of brown fluff started squeezing itself out of the deck slot. Another hoot came from the fluffball, and a small fluffy creature finally emerged from the dueldisk, looking up at Jaden with big wide eyes. It was the Winged Kuriboh, floating on top of Jaden's hand as real as he and the others were.

"Now that's weird! First I hear you, now I see you!" exclaimed Jaden. "What in the world's going on here?!"

Rakaia looked over at him, and saw the Winged Kuriboh flying over to the fiends that were swarming around Jaden. The fiends began to back away from the adorable monster, much to his and Jaden's surprise.

"No freaking way." Rakaia muttered, stunned.

He noticed then that his own dueldisk lighting up, and looked at it to see a stream of light shooting out of it and forming into a dragon-shaped figure. The light faded, and revealed itself to be the Red Eyes Black Dragon, which glared down at the blobs with a low growl. Ken's dueldisk began to glow next, and the Dark Meganite Valdor appeared next to Ken, only now a head taller than her instead of his usual gigantic size.

"More of them?" Jaden observed, rubbing the back of his head. "What the heck is going on?"

"Don't know, I'm new to this." replied Rakaia.

"Relax, they're just duel spirits." Hailey reassured him.

Jaden, Rakaia, Chris, and Ken looked at her, the former three confused, but Ken merely raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"'Duel spirits'?" Rakaia repeated, confused.

"What are duel spirits?" asked Chris.

"We'll fill you guys in on the details later." Ken told them.

"_You_ know what duel spirits are?!"

"You're surprised? Weren't you and the rest of the gang accusing me of being crazy when it appeared that I was talking to myself before we got to this island?"

Chris nodded in remembering, then resumed watching as the three monsters warded off the little demons.

"Hey, way to show 'em who's boss, guys!" cheered Jaden.

He looked back up at Titan to watch as the fiends began rushing into his mouth faster than before. Jaden felt just a little bad for him, but felt he deserved it for all that the creep did to him and his friends.

"Too bad he doesn't have friends like you guys." he said, glaring at Titan.

"We should help him though." Hailey pointed out.

"Why?" asked Rakaia.

Before Hailey could respond, the fiends stopped jumping into Titan's mouth and the Shadow duelist stood there, staring at him with glowing red eyes. The look he was giving Jaden was enough to send chills down the students' spines.

"Jaden Yuki, the Shadows pang for a soul," Titan spoke in a monotone voice. "Only one shall survive."

"Oh, come on now!" groaned Jaden. "Red contacts?! You really went overboard setting up for this, huh?!"

"I don't think he's playing around, Jay." Chris stated, an uneasy look crossing his features.

The little fiends began to back away, creating a large ring that circled around the six people trapped inside, and the monsters from their duel reappeared in the same positions that they were in before the duel was interrupted.

"This duel shall now continue in the Shadow Realm." announced Titan.

"So you're stickin' with the Shadow Realm thing!" Jaden commented, irritated. "At least we get to finish our match!"

He took a card from his hand and held it up.

"I activate the Spell card, Monster Reincarnation!" he continued. "Now by discarding one card from my hand, one of my graveyard monsters comes back, and I choose everybody's favorite golden boy, Sparkman!"

Jaden took the designated card out of the graveyard slot, and placed it onto his dueldisk. The electrical Elemental Hero reappeared onto the field in a guard-like stance, with 1400 DEF to his name.

"You remember him, don't you?" asked Jaden.

"Very well." Titan spoke, in a monotone voice, as he drew his card. "My turn.

"Yeah, but don't forget, Mr. Tall, Dark, and Scary! Without your Pandemonium Field card in play, having an Archfiend out costs you 500 life points per turn!"

A cloud of grayish-violet smoke escaped Titan's mouth as his life points dropped from 1900 to 1400, much to the disgust of the duelists that were on the sidelines.

"500 life points is nothing compared to a soul." the Shadow duelist shrugged, calmly. "Now, Skull Archfiend, attack!"

The skeletal fiend generated a burst of electrical energy and fired it at the Dark Catapulter, destroying it. Since it was in Defense Mode though, Jaden did not lose any life points.

"Whoa, you're really pulling out the stops now, aren't ya?" the boy in red observed, shielding himself.

"I now place one card facedown, and summon the Desrook Archfiend in Attack Mode to end my turn." Titan continued, ignoring him.

A card materialized onto the field behind the Skull Archfiend of Lightning in a set position, and beside the horned fiend appeared a bronze and red fiend that resembled a gnarled tree stump with blue horns. This monster had 1100 ATK. Winged Kuriboh frowned at the monster, and turned back to hoot a warning to Jaden, who smiled back at the furry little Fairy-type monster.

"Don't you worry, Kuriboh. I'm totally still in this duel." Jaden reassured his friend. "Here goes!"

He drew his card, and looked at it, then glanced at the field, gritting his teeth as he did so.

_"Alright, they say the best defense is a good offense,"_ thought Jaden. _"But what's cool about this card is that it can let me have both!"_

"Sparkman, I'm putting you in Attack Mode!" he announced outloud, as his Hero stood up. "And arming you with the Spell card, Spark Blaster!"

He placed a card into the Spell and Trap card slot, which caused a burst of electrical energy to appear on the field in Sparkman's hand. Then the burst materialized into a gun with wires that attached to the Elemental Hero's arm.

"It has three blasts, and lets me change the battle mode of any monster on the field for each of them." explained Jaden. "And I think I know just the monster to use it on first!"

"So be it, change the battle mode of my Skull Archfiend of Lightning," Titan challenged, but still in a calm, monotone voice. "His 1200 DEF pts. should make for easy conquest, unless the roulette negates your effect again."

As he said this, the six balls from before rose up again from the ground.

"I'm guessing he's had trouble with that roulette thingy before." Rakaia commented, looking at his friend.

Jaden's expression had noticeably changed a bit when the roulette appeared, and appeared to be an expression of frustration and irritation. Rakaia would have been right though, as Jaden had already suffered from the roulette's effects twice earlier.

"Sorry, but that's not the monster I was talking about." said Jaden. "In fact, my Sparkman's not even going to use that Blaster yet, he's attacking your Desrook Archfiend with Static Shockwave!"

Elemental Hero Sparkman lowered the weapon to his side, and aimed his free hand over at Titan's Desrook Archfiend, and fired an electric shock at it, destroying it. Titan's life points then dropped to 900, having lost 500 pts..

"Oh, and as for who I'm going to use the Spark Blaster on: the Sparkman himself!" concluded Jaden. "From offense to defense!"

The electrical hero fired his gun at the ground, and a small shock struck the ground, causing the shooter to kneel down into a guarding position once again.

"Coward! First you have your Sparkman attack my life points, and then you have him switch to protect your own!" growled Titan. "But it matters not, nothing can protect you from this, the Trap card Battlescarred!"

His facedown card flipped up, revealing to be a Trap card. Upon seeing it, and hearing it's name, Hailey's eyes narrowed into a glare.

"Oh, no." she moaned.

"What's that?" asked Ken.

"Bad news."

Titan drew his card, preparing to go through with his move.

"With it, the 500 life point per turn cost of my Skull Archfiend of Lightning affects not only me, but you too." he explained, pointing at Jaden. "And for as long as he's out on the field."

His life points decreased from 900 to 400, while Jaden's went from 600 to 100.

"This is bad." gasped Jaden. "I won't be able to last another turn."

At his feet, the fiends began to draw closer to him, as did the ones surrounding his friends. However, Winged Kuriboh, Red Eyes Black Dragon, and Valdor the Dark Meganite kept them at bay.

"Come any closer and we'll pulverize you!" Valdor threatened, glancing around at the tiny creatures.

The Winged Kuriboh hooted in agreement, appearing as menacing as it's allies.

"Don't worry, Kuriboh, buddy! It's all good!" Jaden reassured his partner. "We still got Sparkman!"

"Wrong!" barked Titan. "Skull Archfiend, destroy that Peon! Blast Stream of Fury!"

The dark, electrical fiend charged up another attack and fired a bolt of lightning at Sparkman, destroying it. The bolt passed by Jaden, as he shielded himself from the blast. Then Titan placed a card in his Spell and Trap card slot, causing a set card to appear beside his Battlescarred Trap card.

"Next, I place a facedown card and activate the Spell card Double Spell," he continued, sending two cards from his hand to the graveyard. "Now by simply discarding one of the Spell cards in my hand, I am allowed to use one of the Spell cards in your graveyard, and I select Emergency Provisions."

He held up one hand, and Jaden's Spell card faded into existence in it.

"Now I sacrifice one meaningless card and regain a total of 1000 life points." Titan continued, as the card and his formerly set card faded from play. "Your fate is sealed. You've not a single card remaining in your hand. Battlescarred will take your last life points next turn."

The Duel Academy students trapped in the Shadow Realm looked down to see the fiends closing in on them once more, and there seemed to be more of them now.

"Then you'll join the rest of the students I've taken in the Shadow Realm," Titan finished, glancing at Jaden. "You and the four brats over there!"

Jaden felt a bead of sweat rushing down his face as his opponent's turn came to a close, and the duel spirits moved to ward off the fiends again.

"Better make this turn count," Jaden muttered, looking down at his deck. "'Cause one way or another, it's gonna be my last! Here I come!"

He drew his card, and looked at it.

"I summon the Elemental Hero Bubbleman in Attack Mode!" he announced, placing the card on his dueldisk.

A stream of bubbles shot up from the ground, and a man in blue tights and light blue aquatic armor emerged onto the field. His headgear resembled Batman's a little in shape, and he wore a flowing white cape. His ATK was 800.

"Now Bubbleman will burst if he's left alone, so if he's the last card in my hand when I summon him, I'm allowed to summon another monster." Jaden explained, moving his hand to his deck. "And there's more, if he's the only one out on the field when he's summoned, I get to draw two more cards."

He did just that, and smiled.

"And what do you know, I drew his favorite: Bubble Shuffle!" he stated, holding up a card he had drawn. "Actually, it's more of a two-step. See, it works like this: I switch him and one of your monster's to Defense Mode, then I sacrifice Bubbleman and summon a Hero."

"If my Skull Archfiend's counter-effect does not render your Spell card useless that is," Titan reminded him, as the roulette and the fireball appeared once again. "If this roulette lands on a one, three, or six, your Bubble Shuffle Spell fails to activate."

The flame began moving, engulfing numbers as it moved in a clockwise motion.

"Aw, I've had bad luck with this thing." groaned Jaden.

"Come on, Jay." Rakaia whispered, crossing his fingers.

"Anything but a one, three, or six. Anything but a one, three, or six." Hailey prayed quietly, folding her hands together. "Please let this work."

Chris tugged at his collar nervously upon seeing the flame beginning to slow down, and Ken merely pushed her glasses back a little on the bridge of her nose. The flame finally stopped, and to all but a certain bad guy's relief, it landed on the ball with "2" embedded in it.

"'Two'?!" Titan growled, displeased.

The two monsters on the field knelt into Defense Mode, as Jaden's Spell card kicked into full effect.

"Alright! Finally!" cheered Jaden. "I win!"

He took one card from his hand and placed it on to the dueldisk where his Bubbleman was.

"Now let's give a big Shadow Realm welcome to Elemental Hero Bladedge!" announced the E-Hero duelist.

Bubbleman disappeared in a golden light, which then formed into a golden armored figure with two horns and green gems on his torso, neck, and forehead. This new monster had 2600 ATK.

"Impressive." Red Eyes Black Dragon mused, smiling.

"Indeed." agreed Valdor.

"I know what you're thinking, 'he looks pretty sharp!'" said Jaden. "Well you're right, so sharp, that when he cuts through your defending monster, all extra ATK pts. go to you! Now Hero Bladedge, show him how you got your name!"

The new Hero raised his arms, revealing two very sharp blade-like accessories attached to the outside of them. Also, two jet-like wings unfolded from Bladedge's back, and he leapt into the air.

"Slice and Dice Attack!" shouted Jaden.

Titan watched as the golden Hero charged at the Skull Archfiend of Lightning, and sliced through it like a hot kniife through butter, and returned to his owner's side of the field. White slashmarks began to appear on the fiend, until it finally exploded, decimating the rest of Titan's life points.

"No!" the Shadow duelist cried out.

A smoky fog began to envelop him, as the fiends began attacking him once again.

"Greedy little buggers, aren't they?" muttered Ken. "Valdor, stop 'em!"

"Red Eyes, you too!" commanded Rakaia.

"There's nothing we can do for him now." Red Eyes Black Dragon told them.

The two duelists looked up at the dragon, as it remained where it was.

"We must abide by the rules of the Shadows." Valdor said, glowing in a golden light.

Both monsters returned to their respective decks, and the duelists watched as Titan was consumed by the little fiends. Titan, now back to his senses, tried to break free, but there were too many of them.

"Get off me!" he cried out. "Tell my...kids I...love them!"

Those were his last words as he went under once again. The swarm of creatures began to shrink, until the teenagers could no longer see or hear any trace of Titan.

"Wow, now those are some sweet special effects." said Jaden. "So realistic!"

His four friends in the Shadow Realm with him looked at each other, confused. It all seemed pretty real to them. Then the Winged Kuriboh called out to the five students, and showed a tear in the wall behind it. Light appeared to be pouring from it.

"Think that's an exit?" asked Jaden. "Well good enough for me! Let's make tracks!"

He, Rakaia, Hailey, Chris, and Ken charged out of the Shadow Realm after the tiny monster, and landed on the ground outside of the dome.

"Jaden!" Syrus' voice called out.

"You all okay?!" asked Chumley.

Jaden and the others looked up at them and the rest of the group.

"Never better, guys!" Jaden answered with a wave.

"What happened in there?" asked Chumley.

"And where's that other man?" Ms. Lake piped up.

Before anyone could answer, the dome began shrinking, becoming a sphere of dark energy, and began generating electrical shocks. The collective group, minus the still-unconscious Alexis, hit the deck, as a vacuum-like gust of wind began pulling at them. Jaden noticed that the coffin was starting to fall, and quickly held it down to avoid letting the sphere take Alexis into the mysterious void. Then the sphere finally exploded into pieces, and the group sat up, looking at it. To most of the group's surprise though, Jaden began clapping and applauding it.

"Awesome!" he cheered. "I wonder what he does for an encore! Talk about a magic trick!"

Some of the others stared at him, confused, while the rest just exchanged glances.

"There were little monsters, and vortexes-" Jaden continued on, excitedly.

"'Magic trick'?" Syrus repeated, skeptical. "You don't think that was the real Shadow Realm?"

"Nah, it's all mirrors and fog machines, just like I said."

However, Jaden was completely stumped as to how it all happened, and scratched at his head.

"But I'd give my deck to know exactly how he did it!" he groaned. "I've never seen anything like it!"

Ken took this time to look over at Hailey.

"Should we tell him?" she asked, in a quiet voice.

"He's a big boy, Ken." replied Hailey.

* * *

"Little Jaden must be beaten and paralyzed with fear by now," Dr. Crowler's voice chuckled. "And no doubt those other two delinquents must be trembling in fear also."

The Obelisk Blue headmaster travelled down the hallway of the Abandoned Dorm, and searched for his hired help, until he entered a large room.

"Come out, gentlemen! I want to hear every last detail!" the blond-haired teacher called out. "Every chattering of their jaw!"

"Titan's gone." a voice called out.

Dr. Crowler turned to see Fang and Zero walking towards him, and both were looking far from happy.

"You never mentioned those stupid kids being tough duelists!" complained Zero. "We got wasted in our duel, and this is all we could find of Titan!"

Fang handed their employer a card, and Crowler examined it.

"What's this?" he pondered, looking at the card. "The Shadow duelist's Pandemonium card?"

"And you know that a duelist wouldn't have left their card behind unless..." Fang told him.

"He lost, too."

Dr. Crowler turned to leave, grumbling angrily. Then he walked back over to the two remaining duelists in the other room.

"Ah, yes, your payment." he remembered, digging into his pockets.

"Keep it." Fang told him.

"What?!" yelled Zero.

"We didn't succeed with our mission. It's only right that we don't get paid."

Dr. Crowler stared at the beast-user, who merely glared back at him. He raised a hand, pointing at the doctor with a determined frown.

"But rest assured, Crowler, I want a rematch with Meiyo sometime." he demanded, coolly. "He got lucky because that Meganite kid helped him out."

"Oh, please, she wouldn't have brought out those Meganites if the boy didn't set up the stage for her." Zero responded, with a wave of his hand. "I bet I can beat her badly one on one next time."

"Right. Well, I still have a Plan B in case those three brats should ever have won." said Dr. Crowler.

* * *

"Are you sure it'll wear off?" Jaden's voice spoke, concerned.

"Got any other ideas?" Rose's voice asked.

"Yeah, give me a pen." replied Ken.

"Ken." Hailey's voice scolded her.

"What?"

"Stop it, girls." Ms. Lake scolded them both.

"She's waking up!" Laura alerted the group.

Alexis' eyes fluttered open, and she saw her friends all around her, relieved expressions on their faces. She felt she was sitting up, and realized she was sitting against a tree trunk.

"Well, well, good morning, sleepyhead." greeted Jaden.

"Where am I?" asked Alexis. "What are you doing here?"

"What version of the story do you want?" asked Luna.

"Hold on, what kind of 'thank you' is that?" Jaden broke in, grinning. "We're here because we had to find the bad guys, win the duels, and rescue the damsels in distress."

Then it all came back to Alexis, and her eyes widened as the memories flooded back into her head.

"Yeah, that strange man snatched me!" she remembered, with a gasp.

Jaden then took a card out of his pocket, and handed it to her.

"That's right, we found your card." he said, before digging into his other pocket. "And this."

He handed her a picture of a boy that he and his group had found earlier.

"My brother?!" Alexis gasped, her eyes widening. "This is the first trace I've seen of him in a long time!"

"That's right, I brought it to let you know that we wanna help you find him." explained Jaden. "We all found bits and pieces of information that could prove to be helpful for you. After all, we can't have you getting locked up in anymore tombs searching for him all by yourself. Right guys?"

Alexis felt touched as the rest of the group smiled and nodded encouragingly at her.

"You were really worried about me, weren't you?" she asked, surprised.

"That's what friends are all about." grinned Taryn. "We look out for each other."

"More likely another family." Ken threw in, with a chuckle. "Only probably a lot crazier."

Then they noticed that the sun began to rise, and realized that they had literally been out all night.

"Uh-oh, sun's up!" yelped Jaden. "We better get back before they notice that we're gone!"

"Bye, guys!" said Syrus.

"Yeah, later!" added Chumley.

"We'll see you guys later." Rose threw in, as she and Rakaia stood up.

The five Slifers then rushed off, heading back to their dorm.

"Oh, and if anyone asks, we were never here!" shouted Jaden.

_"But you were, and you saved me." _Alexis thought, looking down at her brother's picture. _"And now I might still be able to save my brother, too."_

"Uh, guys?" Jessi piped up.

Alexis and the remaining members of the group looked at her, and saw that Jessi was looking at Ms. Lake. The dark-haired female was giving the paraprofessional a look that meant she was still worried about being ratted out by a teacher.

"We've still got a problem." she said.

"Relax, I'm no snitch." Ms. Lake reassured them. "I like you kids enough not to get you all kicked out. Just don't make a habit of it."

"We'll try." replied Ramon. "But we should really be heading back now."

The group dispersed, and headed back to their respective dorms.

* * *

Another chapter done, and my mojo is officially back. Next chapter, Jaden, Syrus, and a select number of the group gets in trouble thanks to Dr. Crowler, and a training regiment begins for them. Reviews are appreciated, and flames are not. I'll try to update again soon.


	15. Ghosts of the Past

Ch.15-Shadows of the Past-

Later that week- Harbor-

Very early in the morning one day, about a few days after the Abandoned Dorm Expedition, Alexis began heading down to the harbor to stand by the lighthouse. It was a place she usually went to when she needed to clear her mind, and standing there on the pier was a familiar tall, blue-haired Obelisk.

"Zane?" she muttered, in surprise.

She assumed he wouldn't be up at this hour, but here he was. Zane gazed out at the water, a calm expression on his face, and he didn't seem to hear her.

"Hello!" Alexis called out.

She walked closer to him, until she was certain she was in earshot.

"What are you doing out here?" the female Obelisk asked.

Zane waited until she was standing next to him before answering.

"Nothing." he replied. "Just felt like being alone."

"You know, I thought once your brother enrolled here, you'd feel like that less." Alexis told him. "Not more."

"Well, maybe that's because my brother shouldn't be here."

Slifer Red Dorm-

A little later that day, a van began moving towards the Slifer Red dorm, and inside were several men and women who were dressed in berets and dark uniforms. One would believe that they were with the military, with the way they were dressed and how their vehicle looked. The van pulled up the driveway until it was in front of the dorm, and stopped. The soldiers evacuated from the back of the van and marched up the steps, grunting as they did so. On the first level, a door opened nearby the cafeteria, and a very tired Prof. Banner and Pharoah stepped out of their room.

"Aren't you kids getting a little old to be playing 'War'?" the headmaster of the dorm asked, sleepily. "Come on, guys, how about a nice, quiet game of charades?"

He stopped rubbing his eyes and looked up, noticing that it wasn't a group of students playing around. His expression turned to one of serious surprise, as he watched the other grown-ups head up the steps.

"Oh, no, it's the Disciplinary Action Squad!" gasped Prof. Banner. "They only show when a student's in serious trouble! And they're headed towards Jaden's!"

Inside said Slifer's room, Jaden, Syrus, Chumley, and Rakaia were all still sound asleep in their beds, snoring the morning away. They were unaware that they were about to be subjected to a rude awakening, which came in the form of someone knocking at their door.

"Open up!" a woman's voice commanded them. "Open this door right now, or we'll bust it down!"

That was enough to wake up three out of four of the people in the room, but Chumley went back to sleep as quickly as he woke up.

"Oh, is that so?" said Jaden. "You and what army?"

"Yeah," Rakaia agreed, sitting up in his bed. "What makes you guys so special?"

"We're the Disciplinary Action Squad army." the woman replied.

Jaden and Rakaia quickly rose to their feet and looked at each other.

"'Disciplinary Action Squad'?!" they both repeated.

The two Slifers headed to the door, and Jaden opened it to find a woman about Ms. Lake's age standing on the other side. She seemed to be very angry about something from the blazing look coming from her hazel eyes, but also a bit calm.

"You must be Jaden and Rakaia." she spoke, looking at them.

"Yes, ma'am." Rakaia replied, nodding.

"And that must be Syrus."

Syrus, who was still laying down in his bed, sat up upon hearing his name being mentioned, and his expression turned to one of dread, as he did not like the way she was looking at them, or how they were dressed.

"You three are under campus arrest." the woman told them.

"Huh? What'd we do?" asked Jaden.

"That will be made more than apparent at the interrogation, but first we must collect the remaining four troublemakers."

Obelisk Blue Girls' Dorm- Ken's Room-

Ken, who was unaware of her friends' visit by the Disciplinary Action Squad, was sound asleep in her bed. Ken was dressed in a plain white t-shirt with black shorts, and her DS was gripped in her hand. As she slept, she was lazily humming the Dragon Quest Overture, then stopped when there was a loud knock at her door.

"My game is on the dresser, sis, just go ahead and take it." Ken called out to whoever was knocking.

"Actually, we're the Disciplinary Action Squad, Ms. Warren." a female voice called back.

"...Then go away!"

Ken rolled over on her bed, pulling the covers over her, and fell asleep once again. The door then opened, and the female head of the second squad marched into the room, and over to the bed. She yanked the covers back, causing Ken to spin in mid-air for a moment, then crash and faceplant onto the floor with her legs hanging over her head.

"Shawn told me I'd have days like this." sighed Ken.

She then looked up to see the woman standing over her, glaring at her.

"I take it you're Ken."

"Yeah, now answer me this," Ken responded, casually. "What is the Disciplinary Action Squad again?"

"We're campus security." the leader replied.

"Okay, now I have another question. Do I get a lawyer?"

"No, but you have ten minutes to get dressed. We'll be waiting outside your door."

The guards left the room, and waited for Ken to get dressed, but once she did, the Meganite duelist immediately began packing up some of her belongings. Her plan: Make a break for it. Once she got her backpack filled up, she casually glanced out the window, and saw multiple guards waiting outside her window, glaring up at her.

"Ah, crap." groaned Ken.

She headed out of her room, and reluctantly set down her bag, then opened the door, allowing the leader and her soldiers entry again. Then another soldier walked in, saluting the chief.

"We have apprehended the other girl." he spoke.

Ken stared at him, confused, until she saw Hailey, who was still dead tired and in her pajamas, being led into the room. A feeling of dread swept through her body as she wondered if someone knew about them trespassing into the Abandoned Dorm.

"We've also got reports that Mr. Norwood and Ms. Lake have been brought into custody." the same soldier announced. "We're instructed to bring these two to the Academy, where they will all stand trial at the same time."

"Again, do we get a lawyer?" asked Ken.

Sometime later- Duel Academy Building- In a room somewhere-

"What?! 'Suspended'?!"

Jaden, Syrus, Rakaia, Hailey, Ken, Chris, and Ms. Lake, all fully dressed in their uniforms, stood in the center of the room, with three of the screens lit up, showing the faces of Dr. Crowler, Chancellor Sheppard, and the DAS chief of campus security glaring down at them.

"That's what I suggest, and for the staff member to be fired." the security chief concluded. "You all trespassed into the Abandoned Dorm, an anonymous letter from one of our faculty members confirms it, along with two other letters from other anonymous people. You must be punished so an example is set for all the students."

"But what kind of example are we setting? That we are a bunch of hard-hearted tyrants?" Dr. Crowler asked, smiling. "I say we arrange something more sporting."

"'Sporting'?" Jaden repeated, confused. "What do you mean by that?"

"Yes, Crowler, just where are you going with this?" asked Ms. Lake.

She didn't like the smile on her colleague's face, it gave her an uneasy feeling about this.

"Well, Jaden, off the top of my head, how about you partner up with Syrus, Ken partners up with Hailey, and Rakaia with Christopher, for three separate tag-duels? Ms. Lake, of course, will face someone in a duel alone." explained Dr. Crowler. "Win and you're cleared, lose and you're expelled. In the latter's case though, fired."

Ms. Lake gulped, as she looked down at the other students. Jaden, Rakaia, and Chris looked excited about a little tag-team action, while Hailey and Syrus looked a little nervous, Ken on the other hand looked as if she didn't care.

"A tag duel? That sounds sweet!" exclaimed Jaden.

"B-But, Jaden, he said 'expelled'!" Syrus stammered, nervously.

However, Dr. Crowler saw that an agreement was made.

"Chancellor, I believe they have accepted the conditions." he said, turning to look at his superior.

"Fine, then I'll arrange some opponents." Chancellor Sheppard agreed, calmly.

_"Better him than Crowler."_ Ms. Lake thought, relieved.

However,...

"Oh, now, Chancellor, don't you fret about that," Dr. Crowler interjected. "I'll take care of all the particulars for the event."

_"We're screwed."_ Ms. Lake thought, facefaulting.

_"Aw, man."_ Syrus groaned, inwardly.

_"Why?"_ thought Hailey.

_"I don't want Crowler to pick our opponents!"_ Chris complained mentally.

_"I wonder who we'll get to duel..." _Jaden wondered, thoughtfully.

_"But what of the other two creeps who tried to-" _Rakaia pondered, putting a hand to his chin in thought.

"Hold on, just a minute, guys!" Ken spoke up.

The others turned to look at her, and saw Ken was looking ticked off.

"What about Fang and Zero?" she demanded, angrily. "They tried to kill me, Ms. Lake, Rakaia, and Luna!"

"There have been no record of anyone called 'Zero' or 'Fang' on the island, Ken." explained Dr. Crowler. "Now, if you're done babbling about nonsense and crying 'wolf'-"

"Say what?! But they were there, we fought them in a duel! Ask Hailey! Ask Chris! Ask-"

"Ms. Warren, if you don't calm down, I'm afraid you'll have another addition to that record of yours."

Ken reluctantly backed down, growling softly as she did.

Later that day- Chancellor Sheppard's office-

"You wanted to see me, Chumley?"

Chumley stood in front of the Chancellor's desk, a very nervous look on his face.

"Yeah, uh, I just wanted to tell you that...that...I was at the Abandoned Dorm, too!" he blurted out. "And that I should be the one to duel with Jaden!"

"No, it should be me!" a new voice spoke out.

Chumley turned around, and saw Alexis walking into the office, looking much more calm than he did. Behind her was Matt, who looked like he got out of bed and got dressed in a hurry. He was still wearing his pajama shirt and his blazer on backwards, and his socks and shoes were mismatched. Chancellor Sheppard stared at the two students, surprised, and wondering if they were willing to confess that they had gone to the forbidden dorm also.

"Listen, Jaden and Syrus were at the dorm helping me," explained Alexis. "Ms. Lake and Luna were in danger too, that's why their friends were there also."

"We were all there, and I want to be Ms. Lake's tag team partner, sir!" pleaded Matt. "It's not fair that she goes into this on her own, while our friends get to go in with tag team partners, and she's my para! She helped me out when I started attending this school, let me repay her for that!"

"Duh, that's bogus, guys!" Chumley interrupted them. "Matt wasn't even there, and Alexis, it was so totally my fault! I led them to the Abandoned Dorm, 'cause I wanted to check out it's, uh, abandoned cafeteria..."

The three of them then started arguing, until Chancellor Sheppard's face broke out into a smile. Two loyal friends willing to risk expulsion to help their friend, and a student willing to lie to help his teacher. Unfortunately though, there was no going back on the already set terms.

"I realize the stakes are high, but the team-up has been set," the Chancellor told them. "Syrus is Jaden's partner, and Matthew, Ms. Lake agreed to a one on one duel. I'm sure that they'll do fine."

Alexis, Chumley, and Matt had no choice but to agree. There was nothing they could do.

Slifer Red Dorm- Jaden, Syrus, Chumley, and Rakaia's Room-

Chumley walked back into the room, feeling a bit depressed that he had failed in his mission, and was caught off guard when Syrus launched himself at him.

"So did he say 'yes'?!" the shorter boy asked. "Oh, please tell me that he said 'yes'! If I'm Jaden's partner, I'll get us both expelled!"

"I never met a guy who didn't want to duel so much." Rakaia mused, shaking his head at Syrus.

"I tried, Syrus!" Chumley told his smaller roommate. "I even lied and told the Chancellor I was the one who led you all into the Abandoned Dorm!"

Jaden chuckled out loud, earning a look from all three of his roommates.

"Well you did lead us into it's cafeteria." he pointed out.

Syrus saw that Jaden was going through his deck, and rearranging his cards, with Rakaia doing the same with his own deck. Both of them were looking so calm, and excited about their duels.

"Hey, why aren't you worried, guys?" asked Syrus. "Jaden, aren't you afraid that I'm gonna get us kicked out? In fact, aren't you guys even the least bit worried about us being expelled?"

"Nah." replied Jaden. "I wouldn't want any other partner."

"What are you, nuts?"

"Look, Syrus, we're gonna go in there, duel our best, and win our duels. All of us. Know why?"

Syrus didn't answer, he just looked at the taller boy.

"Because you and I are gonna work out all our kinks right now." Jaden declared, standing up. "Now go and grab your deck, buddy, 'cause we're gonna duel."

"We are?" asked Syrus.

"Yeah, in fact, we're all gonna train for our matches."

"We are?" Rakaia repeated, raising an eyebrow.

* * *

"Alright, you guys, remember, this is just practice for your upcoming tag team match," Chumley reminded his friends. "So go easy."

He stood on the cliff, looking down at Jaden and Syrus, who were standing on the ground several feet below the cliff, nearby the water. Rakaia and Rose were sitting on the ground next to him, waiting patiently for the duel to begin. Down below, Jaden was looking eager to get started with the duel, while Syrus was looking more uneasy by the second.

"'Course, I'm not sure if Jaden knows how to go easy." Chumley pointed out, thoughtfully.

"I don't think he knows the meaning of the phrase." Rakaia agreed, grinning.

"That's probably a good thing though, guys." Alexis' voice rang out to them.

The three Slifers on the cliff turned around to see Alexis, Hailey, Ms. Lake, Sega, Kenneth, and Matt walking over to them.

"What do you mean?" asked Chumley.

"It means, I know Dr. Crowler, and he's not going to be matching them up with any pushovers," Alexis continued when she was standing next to him. "Both Syrus and Jaden are going to need to be at their very best, because if they're not, they'll both be expelled."

"Yeah. Hey, where are Chris and Ken?"

"Chris said he'll be here in a bit," Kenneth replied, an uneasy grin on his face. "As for Ken, I never got a reply."

Then Hailey shyly raised her hand for them to see, and the group standing on the cliff turned to her.

"Last I checked before I left the dorm with Lexi and Sega, Ken's door was closed," she told them. "She didn't answer when we knocked on the door."

"Probably went back to sleep." said Rose.

"Didn't hear much snoring in her room."

"Then busy playing her video games."

"Didn't hear any sounds from the TV in there."

"Then maybe she's reading!"

"..."

"...I give up..." she muttered.

Meanwhile, with Jaden and Syrus, the two were just about to begin their practice duel.

"Alright, Syrus, get your game on, buddy!" exclaimed Jaden. "And let's have some fun!"

Syrus, however, wasn't all that in the mood for a duel, or even any kind of fun, at the moment.

"Sure, fun, I guess we might as well squeeze at least some in, before we get kicked out of here." he muttered, gloomily.

"Uh, what was that?" asked Jaden.

Syrus jumped, and realized that he was speaking out loud.

"Oh, uh, nothing!" he replied.

"Then let's duel!" said Jaden.

"Yeah, yeah. Let's duel."

With that, the duel began, and they drew their hands. Jaden took the first move.

"Here I come, Syrus!" he announced, drawing his card.

The brown-haired Slifer gazed at his hand, and smiled.

"Sweet!" he cheered, grinning. "I summon Elemental Hero Avian, Attack Mode!"

He placed the card down on his dueldisk, and the bird-themed hero emerged onto the field with a yell. He stood up straight before Jaden, ready for battle. Then Jaden placed one card in his Spell and Trap card slot, allowing a set card to materialize behind the monster.

"And I'll also throw down a face down!" he finished, looking back up at Syrus. "Your go!"

Syrus uneasily looked down at his deck, still not up to the challenge.

"Alright," he spoke, drawing his card. "Let's see..."

He looked down at his hand, then smiled at the card he drew, his mood brightening significantly.

_"My Patroid's ATK can beat Jaden's Avian!"_ he thought, happily.

"Hey, what's that smile about?" Jaden asked, from across the field. "You got something?"

Syrus again flinched, his smile quickly vanishing as he started to get nervous again.

"Uh, well, um, yeah, I think so." he answered, placing the card he drew onto his dueldisk. "Patroid, Attack Mode!"

A cartoon, animatronic police car appeared onto the field, standing before Syrus with 1200 ATK. The little automobile let out a cry similar to that of an actual police siren.

"Hey, Syrus! That's a pretty awesome monster you got there!" Hailey called down to him.

Syrus scratched at his cheek, blushing and chuckling embarrassedly.

"Gee, thanks!" he responded, smiling.

_"Oh man."_ the small teenage boy thought, nervously.

Then he regained his composure and continued with his move.

"Now, go, Siren Smasher!" announced the blue-haired boy.

The cartoon police car monster prepared to charge, as his siren went off, and began to glow with a pinkish-purple light. Patroid then switched to vehicular mode, and sped full speed at Jaden's Avian.

"Not so fast!" declared Jaden. "I got a Trap! Negate Attack!"

His facedown card flipped up, and an invisible barrier rose up in front of the winged hero. Patroid hit the brakes as fast as he could, and returned to his bipedal mode, as he was pushed back by an invisible wind.

"Aw man," groaned Syrus. "I should've guessed that your facedown was a Trap."

Up on the cliff, his friends stared down at the duel.

"Duh, Sy walked right into that one." commented Chumley.

"Well, better to trigger it now than later." said Sega. "Otherwise, it would've probably have hurt him in the long run."

"That's right, Sega." agreed Ms. Lake. "Especially when he'll need to bring out the big guns before Jaden does."

Then their conversation was interrupted by a soft meowing. They looked down to see Pharoah rubbing against Chumley's pantleg in an affectionate manner, and the elder Slifer male picked the brown tabby up in his arms, and returned his gaze to the duel.

"This isn't a good sign though, guys." Alexis spoke up. "There's no way they'll stand a chance in the tag match if Syrus plays like this."

"Yeah, little guy needs a confidence boost." Matt agreed, rubbing the back of his neck.

Down below, Syrus was sitting on the ground, facing away from the duel, and doodling in the sandy dirt.

"Oh, boy, don't you think that dirt is just the coolest, Jaden?" he asked.

"Sy, don't crack up yet." Jaden urged his friend, frowning. "You just made one mistake, that's all."

Syrus stood up, and turned around, but keeping his gaze to the ground.

"Yeah, coming to this school." he muttered.

"No, Sy, you just forgot to use Patroid's special power is all." Jaden explained, calmly. "He lets you one of your opponent's facedown cards once per turn. You could've seen my Trap."

That still didn't help Syrus' mood lighten up though.

"Yeah, I know I'm no good." Syrus argued, miserably. "I don't belong here."

Jaden misinterpreted his words, and thought he accidentally insulted the shorter Slifer.

"Whoa, slow down there! I didn't mean anything like that!" he reassured his friend.

Syrus then realized he was making his friend feel bad, and sighed.

"I-I know you didn't, Jaden," he mumbled. "I know you were just trying to help, it's just that-"

"No, look, you're right. I shouldn't have butt in." said Jaden. "We're opponents right now, and from here on out, we've gotta act like it."

He drew his card, and smiled.

"Game on!" the E-Hero duelist exclaimed.

He looked at his hand, then his eyes rested on one card in his hand.

_"Alright, Syrus is in for a shock."_ thought Jaden.

He placed the card down on his dueldisk.

"I summon Elemental Hero Sparkman in Attack Mode!" the Slifer duelist announced, as the electrical Hero emerged onto the field. "And now I'll have my Sparkman attack Patroid!"

Sparkman generated a sphere of electrical power in his hands, then spread his hands apart, turning the sphere into a large bolt, and threw it like a javelin. The bolt of lightning struck Patroid dead in his chest, and destroyed it, along with 400 of Syrus' life points. However, Jaden wasn't done.

"And now Avian, attack Sy!" commanded Jaden. "Windstorm Strike!"

Avian flew into the air and flapped his wings once, sending a gust of wind in Syrus' direction. Syrus then watched as Avian flew at him, and struck him, knocking him off his feet. His life points then plummeted down from 3600 to 2600.

"Shake it off, Syrus!" Matt's voice called down to them. "You're still in this!"

"Yeah, come on, Sy!" Hailey added, enthusiastically.

Jaden smiled up at them, then looked back down at his hand. He took a card from it, and placed it in his dueldisk.

"Last, I'll throw down a facedown, and that's it!" he concluded.

Syrus pushed himself up on his back, as a facedown card appeared behind Avian.

"Can I crack up now?" he asked. "I just got nailed on both of our turns, I can't win!"

"Of course you can win, Syrus!" Alexis scolded him. "You just have to believe in yourself!"

"Yeah, knuckle up and show him what you're made of!" agreed Rakaia. "Think like Daniel Bryan and Rey Mysterio! They're underdogs, but they've managed to overcome the odds plenty of times!"

As the others began trying to encourage the Vehicroid duelist, Chumley's expression began to change. Then he stepped forward.

"Listen to them, Sy! They're so right!" he shouted. "Don't give up! I mean, duh, Syrus! That's the first thing they teach you in Freshman Dueling class! I should know, I had to take it twice!"

Syrus looked up at his friends, and sighed.

"You guys are right, I can't give up the match so soon!" he said. "Especially since I'm not just dueling for myself, but for Jaden as well!"

His eyes then flashed, courage and determination now burning within them. It seemed he was ready to finally get his game on.

"And the best thing I can do for him right now would be...to take him down!" he declared.

"Come on, Sy!" Alexis cheered. "You can do this!"

"Just stay positive and keep your cool at all times!" added Kenneth.

"Totally, we believe in you!" agreed Chumley. "You just gotta believe in yourself! Duh!"

As the rest of their friends cheered Syrus on, Alexis looked over at Chumley.

"You know, Chumley, you're pretty good with words of encouragement." she complimented the elder Slifer.

Chumley looked at her, and felt his face heat up a little with embarrassment.

"Yeah, well I got all kinds of books on self-motivation," he admitted. "For some reason, my dad keeps getting them for me.

_"Don't comment. Don't comment. Don't comment. Don't comment."_ the rest of the group on the cliff chanted repeatedly in their minds.

"Anyway, at least Syrus is playing in the duel now, rather than the dirt," Alexis spoke at last. "Nice job."

"Why thank you." said Chumley.

"No problem. Now the question is how will he play?"

Syrus drew his card, and looked at it.

"Alright." he muttered.

_"I don't have a monster that could take on Jaden right now,"_ Syrus thought, studying his hand for a strategy. _"So I'll have to use a different strategy."_

"I'm throwing down the Spell card Pot of Greed!" he announced, putting the card in his dueldisk.

A gigantic, creepy green pot appeared onto the field with a creepy grin.

"And now I'll use it's magical charm, and draw two additional cards from my deck!" the blue-haired teen announced, drawing two cards from his deck.

Upon doing so, the pot exploded. Then Syrus looked down at his hand, but when he did that, his expression changed into one of shock. In his hand were two Spell cards.

_"Power Bond!" _he gasped inwardly.

His change in demeanor didn't go unnoticed, as Jaden and the others caught on quick.

_"Judging by Syrus' face, he must've just drawn a sweet card!" _Jaden thought.

"Power Bond's like Polymerization, but better." Syrus spoke to himself, in a soft voice. "Whatever Machine-type Fusion monster I summon, it's ATK pts. are doubled."

His expression then changed into one of frustration and defeat.

"Oh well, I'm not good enough to play a card this strong." he muttered, miserably. "At least not according to my brother."

His mind flashed back to a moment in his past, to a time when he was a child.

Flashback- Several Years ago-

_In a school yard, a younger Syrus stood before a much bigger boy, both locked in the middle of a duel. On Syrus' side of the field, was Gyroid and Steamroid, both in Attack Mode, and the other boy's side of the field had a facedown card behind his only monster, a Gearfried the Iron Knight. Syrus had 1600 life points, while the other boy had 1900._

"I'll never forget that day." Syrus continued to narrate. "It was back in grade school, and I was dueling this really mean bully. It was my big chance to stand up to him. To show him I couldn't be pushed around."

_"Alright! You're goin' down!" Syrus' younger self cried out, in a determined voice._

_He drew a card from his dueldisk, and looked at it. It was Power Bond. He gasped at it, and smiled widely._

"Awesome! Power Bond!"_ the younger boy thought, excitedly. _"The card my brother gave me! I'll win for sure now!"

_"Quit stalling, you little pipsqueak!" the bully snapped, in a gruff voice. "You know you're gonna lose! So let's just get it over with!"_

_"Yeah, that's what you think!" declared the younger Syrus. "But you're wrong! This duel's mine!"_

_"Yeah right! The only thing that's gonna be yours is a severe butt-kicking!"_

_The smaller blue-haired duelist laughed, then his expression turned serious again._

_"Sorry, but I'm done being scared of all your nasty threats!" he shot back. "Do you hear that?! I'm not afraid of you anymore, know why?! 'Cause I'm gonna be the one who takes you down-"_

_"**STOP!**" a new voice commanded._

_Syrus stumbled around in place and fell forward. He pushed himself up off the ground, and glared at the person who dared to interrupt the duel._

_"Hey, who said that?!" he demanded._

_His big gray eyes widened upon seeing who it was that interrupted the duel, and a taller boy in darker clothing strode past him in a calm manner. The boy had long blue hair, darker than Syrus', and dark blue eyes also. His expression was calm, but with a slight touch of anger._

_"Zane?" gasped Syrus._

_Zane marched over to the bully and held up a card._

_"This duel never happened, got it?" he stated. "Just take this, and walk away."_

_The bully smiled, and accepted the deal, then hurried off with his prize. Syrus, outraged, shot to his feet._

_"What are you doing, Zane?!" he demanded again. "I was about to win this duel with the card you gave me!"_

_"No, Syrus, you weren't!" Zane told him._

_Syrus blinked, confused._

_"And I would have never given you that card had I known you were about to misplay it like you were about to." Zane continued._

_"'Misplay'?" repeated Syrus. "I was not!"_

_"You were! This was the facedown card that your opponent had out on the field, Syrus!"_

_He held up a card for Syrus to see without turning back to look at him. The card in his hand was the Trap card Spellbinding Circle._

_"That's right, a very powerful Trap card." Zane explained to his younger brother. "And when it's sprung, the monster that it ensnares can't either attack nor change it's battle mode."_

_Syrus stared at the card in shock. He was about to misplay his card after all._

_"So you would've summoned your Fusion monster with Power Bond, and it's ATK pts. would have doubled, but then Spellbinding Circle would've prevented you from attacking with him." Zane continued to scold the younger boy. "And then you would've been left taking a hit to your life points at the end of your turn for having used Power Bond. You weren't thinking, Syrus. You didn't take into account the facedown card, and you didn't take into account Power Bond's adverse special effect. Sure, you know how to use the card, but there's more to a duel than simply that!"_

_Syrus collapsed to his knees, shaken by his brother's words._

End Flashback-

"Just holding this card again gives me the chills." said Syrus. "And what did he mean that knowing how to use it wasn't enough?"

He screwed his eyes shut tightly, and groaned. As he did this, the others stared at him.

"What's with him?" asked Ms. Lake. "He completely froze up again."

"Sy, you okay?!" asked Matt.

"Earth to Sy! Come in, Sy!" Sega called out to him.

_"Sy sure is struggling with his move."_ Jaden observed mentally.

"Hey!" he called out to his opponent. "You alright there, Sy?!"

Syrus snapped out of it, now aware that his friends were all calling out to him, worried. He put his two new cards in his hand, and took out one of them.

"I'm gonna play this Spell card!" he announced. "Polymerization!"

A swirling blue vortex appeared onto the field above Syrus, and he held up two other cards.

"And I'll use it to fuse together the Gyroid and Steamroid I have in my hand to create the Steam Gyroid!" he continued.

A blue and white cartoon helicopter and a black and red cartoon steam train appeared onto the field, then became sucked into the blue vortex, which then vanished to reveal the new monster, which appeared to be the Steamroid with Gyroid's helicopter blades spinning around his midsection. When they stopped spinning, the blades appeared to be like arms. This monster had 2200 ATK.

"Impressive." said Kenneth. "That's gonna cause some heavy damage."

"Alright, Steam Gyroid, it's time to go locomotive!" stated Syrus. "Attack! Train Twister!"

The blades around the Vehicroid monster began whirling around again, as steam began to blow out from the monster's top. The steam then began to form a hurricane as the blades kept spinning faster and faster, until the top of the whirlwind looped around overhead, and struck Avian dead on. Avian coughed violently from the smog, then looked up to see the Steam Gyroid about to tackle him, and was struck. The green, winged hero shattered into pieces. Jaden was hit by the aftershock of the attack and his life points was brought down to 2800 as he fell to his knees.

"Alright!" Syrus cheered, as his monster returned to his side of the field. "Got'cha! Had enough practice?"

Then he became aware that Jaden was laughing, and saw a grin on his friend's face.

"What are you talking about 'have I had enough'?" asked Jaden. "Sy, you know the old saying: 'No pain, no gain'! And with what I have planned, you stand to gain a lot!"

"Oh, boy." groaned Ms. Lake. "Now he's about to get serious."

"Which means we'll be seeing fusions in a bit, won't we?" asked Hailey.

"Knowing Jaden, that's a huge possibility."

"Alright, Syrus, you may be one of my best pals, but now we're rivals!" Jaden declared, drawing his card. "And I got the cards to treat you like one!"

His expression then turned very serious.

"Brace yourself! Now," the Slifer Red duelist shouted, holding up a card. "I activate the Spell card Polymerization!"

The others watched as a blue vortex now appeared over Jaden.

"Yep, here we go." sighed Ms. Lake.

"Elemental Hero Sparkman, and Elemental Hero Clayman, unite!" commanded Jaden.

The two Heroes nodded, and leapt into the air. The vortex turned into a massive storm cloud, and once the E-Heroes vanished in the cloud, bolts of lightning rained down upon the field.

"And here he comes!" said Jaden. "The Elemental Hero Thunder Giant!"

As he said this, the massive giant Hero emerged from the clouds, and began slowly descending down onto the field. The sounds of the lightning crashing around them scared Pharoah, who leapt out of Chumley's arms and began to flee.

"That cat's got the right idea." said Alexis.

"Oh, please, it's just another monster, Alexis." Chumley pointed out.

"Actually, Chumley, that's a major problem for Syrus." Rakaia explained, looking up at him.

"Thunder Giant can destroy one monster on the turn he's summoned, if that monster's original ATK pts. are less than his own." Alexis described, looking at the new monster.

"Really?!" gasped Chumley.

The group watched as the new Fusion monster descended down onto the field at last, and from Syrus' expression, he knew what was to come next.

"Guess practice might be getting out early for Syrus then." said Chumley.

"Okay, Thunder Giant, take out Steam Gyroid!" commanded Jaden.

Thunder Giant raised his hand in the air with his index finger extended. From it, a bolt of lightning shot out from it, and hit the clouds. A second later, little bolts of electricity began raining down onto the field. Steam Gyroid attempted to shield himself with his blades, but was destroyed nonetheless. Syrus raised an arm to shield himself from the blast, and looked up to see that he was wide open.

"Oh, man!" he groaned. "That leaves me defenseless!"

"Yeah it does!" said Jaden. "But I'm not done yet!"

He held up another card, and placed it onto his dueldisk.

"Burstinatrix!" he called. "I summon you in Attack Mode!"

The fire-based heroine appeared onto the field, zooming around her larger ally, then stopped in midair.

"Now comes the double tag attack!" shouted Jaden. "Thunder Giant, Voltic Thunder!"

The Thunder Giant brought his hands together before him, creating a sphere of electrical power, that when finished developing, he raised his hands behind his head, and shot them towards Syrus, firing the blast at him. Syrus was then electrocuted by the attack, and his life points dropped from 2600 to 200 as he fell on all fours.

"Now, Burstinatrix, attack!" commanded Jaden. "Flare Storm!"

Burstinatrix generated a pair of fireballs in her hands, which combined when she put her hands together, and fired a massive jet of flames at Syrus. Syrus staggered back, as the flames engulfed him, and fell backwards as they extinguished, but not before losing the last of his life points.

"And that would be game!" Jaden said, saluting his friend. "That was a good duel there, Syrus!"

"I don't know about that," moaned Syrus. "I didn't put up that much of a fight, Jaden."

Jaden stared at him, confused, but kept his smile, as he began walking over to him.

"What are you talking about?" he asked. "Sure I was able to pull it out at the end, but you made some sweet moves! You oughta be proud!"

"Yeah." Syrus sighed, not entirely convinced.

"Although, I gotta admit, I'm curious about something. What was that card you drew, but didn't play?"

Syrus attempted to back away, but failed as Jaden took the cards from his hand to examine them.

"You looked so excited,-" Jaden continued, examining the hand.

He stopped short, his expression changing to one of surprise.

"Power Bond?" he gasped. "Why didn't you use it? You would've doubled Steam Gyroid's ATK pts., you'd have had one tough monster! You know, on second thought, for my sake, I'm glad you didn't use it."

"You don't understand, my bro says I'm not good enough to use it!" Syrus explained, rising to his feet. "And I'll probably never be! And it's clear you'll never be able to win the tag team duel if I'm your partner!"

He then began to run off, as his friends called out to him. Hailey and Rakaia were about to go join Chumley in his attempt to go after Syrus, but the bigger Slifer stopped in his tracks to look at him.

"Hey, I'll go check on Sy, you two go practice for your duel." Chumley told his friends.

"You sure?" asked Rakaia.

"Yeah."

Chumley then rushed off back to the Slifer dorm, as the others remained behind.

"Let's get set up for the practice match." said Hailey.

"Right." agreed Rakaia. "Afterwards, we check on Syrus."

* * *

So a ghost from Syrus' past has come back to haunt him in the form of a card, and cost him a duel, with his friends growing more and more curious about the reasons. Meanwhile, Hailey and Rakaia's duel is next, and I'm already getting to work on it. On a side note, got randomly inspired to do a funny chapter for the future, and I'd like to know what tag team you'd like to see plays against the good guys for the tag duels, so any suggestions? Review upon reading, flames aren't appreciated, and stay out of trouble, ladies and gentlemen.

Hailey Ryan is owned by Peach Wookiee, Luna Tenshi, and Crayus and Rakaia Meiyo are obviously owned by Rakaia The Dragon Duelist, Sega Rivera is owned by Sega herself, Will Rosen is owned by 15animefreak15, Laura is owned by Hyruleepona, Taryn and Jessi Yuki are owned by Dyusu, and finally Rose Renea is owned by maymay85985. As for my OCs, Ken, Matt, Kenneth, Chris, Bella, and Ramon, they're owned by me and my Duel Club familia, along with Tony Casimir, Ms. Erin Lake, and Underground Duelists Zero and Fang. Don't own the original series part of the plot, but I did tweak with it a bit. The main plot is owned by Kazuki Takahashi and everyone else who helped bring Yu-Gi-Oh! GX into this world. Robot Alchemic Drive is developed by Sandlot, and published by Enix, so I guess they own the game. The Meganite and Volgara cards are being posted up on Deviant Art.


	16. Fairy Tale Dueling

Ch.16- Fairy Tale Dueling-

Chancellor Sheppard's Office-

Chancellor Sheppard was doing paperwork in his office, when he heard a knock at his door.

"Come in." he called, without looking up.

The door opened, and Ken walked inside, closing the door behind her. Chancellor Sheppard looked up, and smiled upon seeing her.

"Ken, I see you've gotten my message." he greeted, kindly.

"What seems to be the problem?" asked Ken.

"You have mail."

Ken raised an eyebrow in confusion, and walked over to the headmaster's desk, where she retrieved the letter from him. She examined the envelope for a name, then the Meganite duelist then opened the envelope and tugged out the letter, interested as to what it said. Then upon reading the letter, her eyebrows knitted together, her expression stunned. Ken then looked back up at Chancellor Sheppard, whose smile faded away at this point.

"So?" the Chancellor questioned his student.

Ken looked back at the letter, and gulped.

_"Aw, cripes." _she groaned inwardly. _"I'd rather go back to juvie than this."_

Back at the Slifer Red Dorm-

While Chumley was going to look after Syrus, the others prepared to watch the duel between Hailey and Rakaia. Rakaia looked eager to begin the duel, while Hailey remained completely calm.

"What kind of deck does Hailey play?" asked Matt.

"You'll see." replied Sega.

"See what?" another male voice spoke.

The group on the cliff looked up to see Chris now joining them, with Will, Ramon, Laura, Taryn, Jessi, Luna, and Bella with him.

"You're late." joked Jaden.

"Sorry, had to rearrange my deck." apologized Chris.

"Hey, where's Ken?" asked Rose.

"Couldn't tell ya." replied Bella.

The group looked at one another with concern.

"Maybe she's like Sy, and isn't looking forward to this whole thing." mused Sega.

"Please, Ken doesn't worry about getting in trouble." Bella laughed, goodnaturedly. "She's probably chilling out somewhere."

Down below, Hailey and Rakaia were about to begin their duel.

"Duel!" they cried.

Rakaia drew a card from his deck to begin, and looked at the six cards he was now holding.

"Awesome, not a bad way to start!" he cheered, grinning. "Hailey, I've got a combo for you!"

He slid a card into the Spell and Trap card slot in his dueldisk, and a Spell card appeared onto the field.

"I play Dark Dragon Ritual, now I can bring out a powerful monster by sending a Level 4 monster from my hand to the graveyard!" announced Rakaia. "So, I think I'll discard Ruby Dragon, and then bring out the Knight of Dark Dragon!"

After discarding his Ruby Dragon to the graveyard, the red dragon appeared onto the field briefly with a menacing roar, then disappeared in a golden shower of light. In it's place appeared a tan-skinned warrior dressed in black and silver armor and a tattered cape. In his hand was a sword with an odd-looking hilt. This new monster had 1900 ATK.

"Whoa, that's not a bad monster." said Jaden.

"Wait until you see his special effect." Sega told him. "Since it's still his Main Phase, he can sacrifice his Knight and bring out a stronger creature."

"Oh boy."

"And I think I'll do just that!" Rakaia shouted, as his monster disappeared in a whirlwind of black smoke. "Knight of Dark Dragon, use your power to call forth our faithful friend, the Red Eyes Black Dragon!"

From the dark whirlwind appeared his favorite dragon, who stood on the field, growling eagerly. Hailey looked up at it, her composed expression still in tact.

"Your dragon doesn't scare me, Rakaia." she declared.

"Then this might," Rakaia retorted, holding up another Spell card. "My Inferno Fire Blast Spell card! And by playing it, I can deal damage to your life points equal to my Red Eyes' ATK!"

The Red Eyes Black Dragon opened it's mouth and shot a dark red fireball at the female duelist before it. Hailey raised an arm to shield herself as the fireball hit her, and her life points dropped to 1600. Rakaia then slid a card into the Spell and Trap card slot, and a facedown card appeared behind his dragon.

"I'll end my turn with a facedown card." he finished.

"Good, I'm up!" said Hailey. "I draw!"

She drew her card from her deck, and smiled upon looking at it, then placed it in one of her dueldisk's Spell and Trap card slots.

"I play Valhalla, Hall of the Fallen, and with this, as long as I have no monsters out, I can Special Summon one from my hand." explained Hailey. "Wanna know the best part about it? Sky's the limit when it comes to the levels!"

Rakaia growled upon hearing that, while several members of the audience gasped.

"She's probably got a really strong monster in her hand then!" realized Alexis.

"I use Valhalla's effect, and summon Athena to the field in Attack Mode!" declared Hailey.

She placed a card from her hand onto her dueldisk, and a woman in a flowing golden and white dress appeared onto the field in a bright white light. She had flowing long silver hair, which was partially hidden beneath a large Olympian silver and gold, jewel-encrusted helmet. In one of her hands was a round silver and golden shield, while in the other was a spear with blades curved around the sides, and a red sphere embedded between the smaller rounded blades. She had 2600 ATK.

"Beautiful, isn't she?" asked Hailey. "Well, she's just as dangerous too, for whenever I summon a Fairy-type monster, she deals 600 pts. of damage to you."

"And let me guess, you're about to play one right now?" asked Rakaia.

"Oh, you better believe I am."

Hailey took another card from her hand, and placed it down onto her dueldisk.

"I summon my Shining Angel to the field in Attack Mode!" she announced.

A blond-haired male in white clothing emerged onto the field, with four golden, feathered wings attached to his shoulderblades. His ATK was 1400.

"And now, Athena's effect activates!" said Hailey. "600 pts. of damage, all for you!"

Athena raised her shield towards Rakaia and a blinding flash of light struck his eyes, and the light also took out 600 of his life points, leaving him with 3400.

"Agh, does anyone have a pair of sunglasses that I can borrow?" asked Rakaia. "Because I'm gonna need them!"

"Shake it off, Smokestack!" Rose called down to him. "Just ride it out!"

"He'll need to, because I'm equipping Athena with Cestus of Dagla," Hailey said, as she placed another card in her dueldisk. "It not only gives her a 500 ATK pt. boost, but the damage she deals, it heals my life points."

The shield and spear in Athena's hands were now replaced with a pair of daggers with crescent-shaped blades around the outside of handle, and curved blades at the side of the handles. Athena's ATK then jumped up to 3100.

"Uh-oh." muttered Rakaia.

"Attack, Athena!" commanded Hailey. "Take out his Red Eyes with Graceful Slash!"

The female goddess charged at Rakaia's Red Eyes Black Dragon and decapitated the monster with one slash to the mighty beast's throat, causing it to explode. Rakaia groaned, watching as his life points decreased to 2900, and watched as Hailey's life points went up to 2300.

"How come her life points increased?" asked Jaden.

"When a monster is equipped with Cestus of Dagla, and they deal battle damage, you get a boost in your own life points equal to the amount you dealt the opponent." explained Ms. Lake. "A well-played move, Hailey. Very well played."

"Yeah, but she won't get the chance to deal anymore damage!" shouted Rakaia. "Because she just triggered my Trap! Go, Red Eyes Spirit!"

His facedown card flipped up, revealing itself to be a Trap card. Red Eyes Black Dragon then re-emerged onto the field with a roar, ready to fight again.

"Since you took out my Red Eyes Black Dragon, I can bring it right back to the field." explained Rakaia. "Sorry, but Red Eyes isn't going away for a while, we're sticking around to kick your butt."

"Heh, we'll just see about that." said Hailey.

"Indeed we will! My turn!"

Rakaia drew his card, and placed it onto his dueldisk.

"I summon my Golem Dragon to the field in Defense Mode!" he called, as a rocky dragon emerged onto the field. "His DEF pts. might not be enough to protect himself from Athena, but his effect protects my Red Eyes Black Dragon from her. But I can still take out your Angel and a chunk of your life points, too!"

Red Eyes Black Dragon opened his mouth and fired another fireball at Hailey, only for it to hit her Shining Angel, and destroy it. Hailey's life points dropped from 2300 to 1300.

"Thanks, I was hoping you'd attack my Angel, because I can use his effect and call forth one of his friends!" said Hailey. "Another Shining Angel!"

Rakaia watched as another Shining Angel soared down from the skies and landed gracefully onto the field beside Athena. Then Athena raised one hand and fired a blast at Rakaia. The dragon duelist watched as his life points dropped by another 600, leaving him at 2300.

"I've gotta be more careful." he muttered, rubbing the side of his head. "Everytime she brings out a Fairy, I take a hit."

Back up above the duel, the spectators were observing with quiet intensity.

"Man, this is becoming one sweet duel." said Jaden.

"Yeah, Hailey's really good." agreed Rose. "Her combos are awesome."

"I can't wait to see what she does next." said Ramon. "I get the feeling, she's really gonna push Rakaia this time."

Hailey drew a card from her deck, and held it up.

"I play Reload, and this lets me shuffle my hand back into my deck, and draw the same number I had." she explained, placing the card in her graveyard.

The fairy duelist added her last two cards from her hand into her deck, and shuffled them in, then she put the deck back into her dueldisk's deck slot, and drew two cards.

"Awesome! I drew the Fairy Archer!" exclaimed Hailey.

She placed the card onto the field, and a green-eyed female, humanoid creature with brown hair tied back in a bun, slightly shorter than Athena, appeared onto the field. She wore a blue, sleeveless leotard, with periwinkle ruffles and pointed blue shoulder accessories, with matching boots, and a skirt made out of leaves. Her wings were fairy-like, yellow with red trims, and in her periwinkle gloved hands was a bow and arrow that matched her wings. She had 1400 ATK.

"And since I brought out another Fairy, you know what that means!" said Hailey.

"Aw, man!" groaned Rakaia.

He raised his arms to shield himself as Athena sent another blast his way, that lowered his life points down to 1700.

"Hailey, I don't like your friend!" complained Rakaia.

"Don't feel bad, everyone feels that way when I use this combo." Hailey reassured him, smiling innocently. "But look at it this way, at least Athena's effect isn't as bad as my Archer's."

Rakaia felt a cold chill pass up and down his spine, and groaned.

"Oh, God, no." he muttered.

"Yep, she deals 400 pts. of damage for each LIGHT monster on my side of the field." said Hailey.

"Rakaia, you might wanna hit the ground." Luna alerted her friend.

Before Rakaia could even move a muscle, the Fairy Archer loaded up three arrows into her bow, and fired them at the same time, each striking Rakaia in the chest. Rakaia groaned in pain as his life points dwindled down to 200.

"Ouch." he groaned.

"Now Athena, take out his Golem Dragon!" commanded Hailey.

Athena flew forward again, and struck the terra-made dragon, destroying it. Rakaia breathed a sigh of relief, because his Red Eyes Black Dragon was still safe for now, as were his life points.

"Oh, and just because this girl scout loves to be prepared, I'm going to further defend my life points with a little help from this Spell card!" Hailey continued, as she held her dueldisk up a little.

She pressed a button, and the Field Spell slot opened up. She placed a card inside, and then it closed, as a bright light began shining out from it. A large temple appeared onto the field, as the group of teenagers and their teacher was teleported above a sea of clouds.

"I picked the wrong life to be afraid of heights." muttered Ms. Lake.

"Well, think about how Rakaia's taking this move." said Will. "This is Sanctuary in the Sky, a Fairy duelist's best friend. It doesn't matter how tough Rakaia's dragons are, because as long as there's a Fairy in play, it's controller takes 0 battle damage."

The others looked at her, and gulped.

"That's quite a defense she's putting up." said Jaden. "Too bad she's playing with a non-Fairy user though in the tag matches."

"Oh, yeah." agreed Laura.

Back where the duel was, Rakaia had drawn his card, and examined it. Then a familiar green pot appeared onto the field, with a creepy grin on it's face.

"I play Pot of Greed, which allows me to draw two cards from my deck." he said, drawing two cards from his deck. "Then I play one of them! My Burden of the Mighty Spell card!"

Hailey's eyes narrowed when her opponent finished. The Spell card appeared onto the field, and a red veil appeared around her monsters, causing them to groan a little. Their ATK pts. began dropping. Athena's ATK dropped from 3100 to 2400, Fairy Archer's and Shining Angel's ATK both went from 1400 to 1000.

"With this, your monsters lose ATK strength, 100 pts. for each level." explained Rakaia. "Which is a lucky break for me. Especially when I've got a couple more cards to play, like my Red Eyes Wyvern!"

A smaller dragon that resembled the Red Eyes Black Dragon appeared onto the field, and stood beside the larger dragon. It's ATK was 1800.

"Next I play my Equip Spell Dragon Treasure, which adds another 300 ATK and DEF to my Red Eyes Black Dragon," Rakaia continued, as he placed another card in his Spell and Trap card slot. "Giving my big friend enough pts. to take down Athena! I may not be able to deal damage because of your Field Spell, but at least I'll stop her from using her effect again! Go, Inferno Fire Blast!"

Red Eyes Black Dragon fired another fireball at Athena, and Hailey watched as the Grecian goddess was burned alive, then shatter into billions of pixels.

"Now, Red Eyes Wyvern, attack her Archer!" commanded Rakaia. "Blister Blast!"

The Red Eyes Wyvern shot a jet of flames from it's mouth and it struck Hailey's Fairy Archer, roasting, then destroying her.

"One more to go, then you're next." said Rakaia. "I now have nothing to worry about since Athena and the Archer are off-duty."

_"We'll see about that, Rakaia," _Hailey thought, smirking. _"After all, I'm no one-trick pony."_

She drew her card, and frowned. The card was Silver Bow and Arrow, not enough to hold back either of her opponent's dragons.

"Shining Angel, I'm putting you in Defense." the Fairy duelist spoke, switching the position of the card on her dueldisk.

The Shining Angel knelt down before Hailey in a guarding stance. Hailey then declared her turn's end, to which Rakaia responded by drawing his card.

"Alright, boys, have at it!" he shouted, pointing at the Fairy monster.

First the Red Eyes Wyvern attacked, incinerating the second of Hailey's Shining Angels, then upon using his effect to call forth her final Shining Angel, Rakaia sent his Red Eyes Black Dragon to attack, which ended in the last of the Shining Angel's destruction. Rakaia smiled, as this meant she no longer had any Shining Angels left to Special Summon.

"So, what do you have left in your arsenal now?" he asked.

Hailey scanned her deck for anything that could help her, then she took a card out from her deck, and placed it onto her dueldisk.

"I'm putting my faith in this little guy!" she announced, bravely. "Hoshinengen, Attack Mode!"

A star-shaped monster with rainbow and red colored ribbons attached to it's arms emerged onto the field wearing little brown boots. The little monster had 500 ATK.

"With my little friend on the field, all LIGHT monsters gain 500 ATK, while DARK monsters lose 400, and your Red Eyes monsters both fit the DARK monster bill." stated Hailey.

Sure enough, Rakaia's monsters roared weakly as their power was drained a little.

"It won't be enough, Rakaia's still got two monsters out way stronger than her Hoshiningen." Ms. Lake pointed out.

"Just wait, Hailey's not going down so easily." Will retorted, smiling.

"How do you know?" asked Chris.

"Because a duel's never over until the last card's played." Jaden replied, looking at him. "Right, Will?"

"Right, Jaden." agreed Will.

The audience looked back down to see Hailey about to start her turn. Hailey took a deep breath, then exhaled softly.

"We can do this." she whispered, calmly. "I have faith in my deck, and my deck has faith in me."

The female Obelisk drew her card, and looked at it. She gasped upon seeing it.

_"Thank you, my friends." _she thought, smiling.

"I summon Mudora!" Hailey announced, placing her card onto her dueldisk.

A muscular, tan-skinned humanoid being emerged onto the field wearing ancient golden clothing, with a white loincloth, anda golden mask. He held a sword in his hands, and had 1500 ATK.

"That's not a LIGHT monster, Hailey." Rakaia reminded her. "Hoshiningen's powers have no effect on him, and he still won't deal that much damage to me even if he battles Red Eyes Wyvern."

"I'm not aiming for Red Eyes Wyvern, Rakaia," Hailey explained, calmly. "Because he'll be attacking the Red Eyes Black Dragon!"

Mudora obeyed his owner's command and sped toward the Red Eyes Black Dragon.

"What are you doing?!" demanded Rakaia. "He's weaker than my dragon!"

Then he saw that Mudora's ATK increased up to 2500, which was 400 pts. stronger than Rakaia's Red Eyes Black Dragon.

"But how?!" yelped Rakaia.

"You overlooked Mudora's special power," explained Hailey. "For every Fairy monster I have in my graveyard, he gains 200 ATK pts.. And I've got just enough to end this duel!"

Rakaia watched as his beloved dragon was beheaded once again, and the dragon exploded into billions of pieces, taking the remainder of Rakaia's life points. The dueldisks shut off, and Hailey walked over to Rakaia, extending her hand to offer a friendly handshake.

"You almost had me." she said.

"Yeah, next time I'll beat you for sure." Rakaia replied, grinning.

He took her hand and shook it energetically.

"That was a great duel!" said Jaden.

"Yeah, her Fairy deck was amazing!" agreed Taryn. "Only problem is she's gotta figure out how to make it work with Ken's mech deck."

"And then there's Rakaia with Chris' deck." added Kenneth.

Chris looked down at his dueldisk, and then back at Rakaia, who was walking with Hailey back up to where they were. This was going to be very tricky indeed.

Later on, while most of the group departed to do their own thing, Jaden stood at the bottom of the cliff, staring ahead at the ocean. He was unaware of the fact that he was about to have some company, in the form of Alexis, Rakaia, Hailey, and Chris. The four of them walked over to Jaden, who continued to look ahead.

"I guess practice doesn't always make for perfect, huh, Jaden?" asked Alexis. "At least not when it's with Syrus it seems."

"I don't get it, guys, he's such a cool guy," Jaden spoke at last. "I just wish he could see what I see, that the only thing that's holding him back is himself."

He turned to his friends, looking frustrated and a bit angry, as he continued.

"I mean he had this primo card all set to play!" Jaden went on. "But he doesn't use it, and why? 'Cause some brother of his said not to!"

Alexis' eyes widened as she let out a gasp, causing the others to look at her, confused.

"What is it, Alexis?" asked Jaden. "Am I missing something here?"

"Yeah, what do you know?" Chris pressed on. "It might be helpful."

"That brother of his goes to this school." Alexis replied, looking down at her feet. "And you've probably heard of him, too."

While the others thought about it, Jaden stared at his friend, a blank look on his face.

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"Hello? Third year Obelisk Blue, and the number one duelist at this Academy?" Alexis reminded him. "He's the big man on campus! Zane!"

"'Zane'?" Chris repeated, his eyes widening. "Hold on."

He took out his PDA and tapped at a few buttons, then he held it up for his friends to see. A picture of a blue-haired teen appeared onto the screen, and Rakaia's face contorted into one of complete shock.

"I know that guy!" he yelped. "He owned my butt in a duel, in one move no less!"

"Yeah, he's really as good as his reputation, so I wouldn't be surprised." said Alexis.

"Yeah? Well, I'll tell you, guys," commented Jaden. "It doesn't sound like he's very good to his little brother."

He turned back to look at the ocean, a thoughtful look on his face.

"Man, I wonder what happened between them." he wondered aloud.

"Must've been something big if it's got Sy down this much." Hailey agreed, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Guys, don't pry." Alexis said, looking between them. "It's none of our business."

"Oh, I won't pry, I'll duel this guy to find out what's up!" Jaden declared, turning back to Alexis.

This sudden declaration caused the others to look at him, surprised.

"Jaden, you're not listening!" Alexis told him. "Didn't you hear Rakaia? He got beat in one turn! Nobody messes with Zane!"

"They do when their tag team partner's not dueling up to snuff because of him," Jaden responded, eagerly. "Besides I wanna see how I stack up!"

Chris reached up, and scratched the back of his head.

"I have to hand it to him, he's one gutsy kid." he said, shaking his head.

"Now I'm interested to see how the duel goes." Hailey threw in, smiling.

_"Well, if he's not going to listen to us,..."_ Alexis thought, defeated.

"You go get him, Jaden." she said.

This statement caused Jaden's smile to grow even bigger, as he turned to face the ocean.

"Alright! Look out, Zane!" he shouted. "I'm comin' for you!"

Later- Back at the Obelisk Blue Girls' Dorm-

Alexis walked back into the dorm, and saw that Bella was just walking away from the door leading to Ken's room. She then headed up the stairs, and hurried over to her.

"Still nothing?" she asked.

"Yeah." replied Bella.

The Cyber girl duelist shook her head, and stormed over to her friend's door, with Bella right behind her. Alexis rapped on the door hard with her knuckles, and didn't wait to hear any movement or for her friend to call back before speaking up.

"Open up, Ken!" she commanded.

No response.

"Oh, for the love of-Ken, if you don't open the door, I'll knock it down!" Alexis threatened, shaking one fist angrily.

"What'cha doin'?" asked Ken.

"Trying to get my friend to come out of her room."

"Neat."

"Yeah, but it's getting kinda irrit-"

Alexis stopped in mid-sentence, and she and Bella turned to see Ken standing right behind them, smiling innocently.

"Where did you come from?" asked Bella.

Ken responded by placing both hands on the dark-haired female's shoulders, and she looked at her very seriously.

"When two human beings love each other very much,-" she began.

"Ken!" Luna called out to her.

She marched down the hallway, with Sega, Taryn, Jessi, and Laura right behind her, and stopped by the trio.

"What do you think you're doing?" demanded Jessi.

"Messing with my sister." Ken replied, honestly.

Sega responded to this by smacking her friend upside the head, causing the spiky-haired punk to yelp in pain.

"Rakaia and Hailey are training, and so were Jaden and Syrus," Sega scolded her friend. "You need to start training as well!"

"Sega, I want to rearrange my deck first!" Ken told her, as she winced in pain. "My deck's not compatible with Hailey's at the moment!"

"Alright, but tomorrow, you start training!"

"Yes, mommy."

This earned another slap upside the head from Sega.

"Ow!"

* * *

Why was Ken called down to the Chancellor's Office? What was in the letter? And will Jaden accomplish his new goal? All will be revealed in time.

On a side note, planned on having Ken team up with Chris, and Hailey with Rakaia, but this seems more fun. Next chapter will be up next week, so long as the familia stops driving me insane. Oh, and I know Fairy Archer was used in Zexal, but I don't care. I updated again today because Peach waited so patiently for me to write an official chapter with her OC Hailey dueling, and her patience was rewarded. Hope you enjoyed it, my friend!

Hailey Ryan is owned by Peach Wookiee, Luna Tenshi, and Crayus and Rakaia Meiyo are obviously owned by Rakaia The Dragon Duelist, Sega Rivera is owned by Sega herself, Will Rosen is owned by 15animefreak15, Laura is owned by Hyruleepona, Taryn and Jessi Yuki are owned by Dyusu, and finally Rose Renea is owned by maymay85985. As for my OCs, Ken, Matt, Kenneth, Chris, Bella, and Ramon, they're owned by me and my Duel Club familia, along with Tony Casimir, Ms. Erin Lake, and Underground Duelists Zero and Fang. Don't own the original series part of the plot, but I did tweak with it a bit. The main plot is owned by Kazuki Takahashi and everyone else who helped bring Yu-Gi-Oh! GX into this world. Robot Alchemic Drive is developed by Sandlot, and published by Enix, so I guess they own the game. The Meganite and Volgara cards are being posted up on Deviant Art.


	17. Strength of the Kaiser

Ch.17- Strength of the Kaiser-

The Following Day- Outside-

"Let's go over this one more time, Jay, he took the form from you,-"

"Yep."

"And you explained that you wanted to duel Zane to help Syrus out with his little confidence issue,-

"Mm-hmm."

"And he proceeded to tear up the form in front of you anyway?"

"That's right, Ramon."

"And to top it off, you had to fill the forms out in triplicate and with a #8 pencil?"

"Correct."

"...What kind of people are they hiring here?"

Ramon and Jaden were heading down the pathway leading away from the school, since Jaden wasn't able to request a duel with Zane, due to Dr. Crowler's interference.

"Well, don't worry, buddy, I'm gonna help you out the best I can." said Ramon. "You're a cool guy, and you're right. This might be what Syrus needs."

"Thanks, Ramon! You're the best!" Jaden replied, grinning.

"Aw, it's no problem."

The two of them continued walking off through the forest, then stopped when they saw cards dropping from the trees.

"What is that?" asked Jaden.

The two teens looked up to see Chumley hanging off of a branch, and trying to hang on for dear life.

"It's either a giant tree sloth," Jaden began, watching as Chumley managed to get back onto the branch. "Or it's Chumley."

"Hey, what up, guys?" greeted Chumley.

"Apparently you are what's up, buddy." said Ramon. "And you might want to get down from there before you hurt yourself."

"Nah, I'm okay. Thanks for the concern, Ramon."

"Don't mention it, dude."

As they talked, Jaden knelt down to pick up one of the fallen cards, and he smirked upon looking at it, before looking back up at Chumley.

"Wow, Chum, there's like, heh, a zillion koala cards down here." he observed.

"Yeah, they so rule!" Chumley admitted, sheepishly. "Wanna have a pick-up duel against them?"

"No thanks, maybe another time." said Ramon.

"Hey, a pick-up duel, why didn't I think of that?" Jaden mused, thoughtfully.

He turned and ran off in the other direction, leaving a stunned Chumley and Ramon behind.

"Hey, wait! Where are you off to?!" asked Chumley.

"The Obelisk Blue dorm!" replied Jaden.

"Why are you goin' there?!"

"A pick-up duel! With Zane!"

Chumley's eyes widened in shock at the mention of the school's top duelist's name.

"The Zane?!" he repeated.

He then noticed that his grip was slipping, and he fell to the ground.

"No time for chillaxing, Chum," Ramon said, helping him up. "We better go after him."

"Aww!" Chumley groaned, as he picked up his cards. "I hate running..."

* * *

Jaden fell back against the ground, and sat up to glare at the Obelisk Blue students who had pushed him. Ramon stood behind him, glaring at his dormmates.

"What's your problem?!" demanded Jaden.

"Yeah, let him through, guys!" shouted Ramon.

"I ain't got no problem." one Obelisk student spoke, glaring at them. "But your little Slifer friend sure will if he doesn't beat it."

"Yeah, Zane wouldn't waste his time with him, he's probably still wet behind the ears from pre-duel school." his buddy agreed in a snobbish tone.

Jaden shot back up to his feet, shaking one angry fist at them.

"I am not!" he snapped.

Then a bucket of cold water splashed him in the face, soaking him. Jaden turned back to see the two Obelisks chuckling at him.

"Now you are!" the first one said. "Rollins, take your pet Slifer rat and get lost!"

"Yeah, and tell him not to come back anymore!" the second Obelisk boy added.

"Why, I oughta-" Ramon growled, rolling back one of his sleeves.

"Aw, let it be, Ramon." said Jaden. "I'll duel Zane, just you wait and see."

Back at the Slifer Red Dorm-

Rakaia and Rose stood outside of Jaden, Syrus, Chumley, and Rakaia's room, and opened it to find a lump hidden underneath Syrus' blanket in his bunk.

"Guess he's still depressed." said Rose.

"Sy, come on, it's just about chow time." Rakaia called to his roommate.

No response. Rakaia looked over at Rose, who merely shrugged, then the two of them heard voices coming from outside the room.

"So, what are you gonna do now?" asked Chumley.

"Well, I'll tell you what I'm not gonna do, and that's give up!" growled Jaden. "I'll get Zane to duel me, one way or another."

"I admire the persistence, Jay, I really do, but how are you going to do that?" asked Ramon. "Even I got read the riot act for even bringing you up there."

"Trust me, Ramon, I'll find a way."

The door then opened, and Jaden, Ramon, and Chumley walked into the room to see their dormmates standing inside of the room by the bunkbeds.

"Hey, guys." greeted Rakaia.

"Hey." Chumley responded, with a wave.

"Ah, Sy, are you still in bed?" Jaden called, annoyed. "Look, I know that you're down, but that's no excuse to act like some lazy slug. I mean, even Chumley got up today."

"Uh, Jay?" Ramon started, putting his hands on his hips.

"Yeah, lousy bladder!" Chumley shouted, ignoring the shot.

Jaden walked over to Syrus' bunk and pulled the covers back, revealing the bed to be empty.

"Where'd he go?" the brown-haired Slifer asked.

The other Slifers and Ramon looked around, then Chumley saw a piece of paper laying on the desk.

"Look, he left a note!" he alerted his friends.

"What's it say?" asked Jaden.

Chumley picked the letter up, and the others rushed to his side to read it together. The note read:

_"Dear Jaden,_

_I'm leaving Duel Academy. Don't try and stop me._

_It's for the best. I would only be holding you back by staying."_

Chumley then found the note to be suddenly snatched from his hands, and looked to the side to see Jaden looking a bit ticked off. The E-Hero duelist clenched the note in his hand tightly, glaring at it.

"Sy's not goin' anywhere!" he declared.

"Here we go again," sighed Rakaia. "Off to be dragged on another crazy adventure."

"Let's go stop him after dinner." said Chumley.

"No! Now!" said Jaden.

"But today's Grilled Cheese Day!"

"Lucky, we're having caviar." groaned Ramon. "I hate caviar. Who wants to eat little unborn baby fish?"

"Hey, focus, people!" snapped Jaden. "If we don't hurry, it'll be Sy's last day!"

He began shoving the others out the door, as they took off to find Syrus.

* * *

"Hey, Syrus!"

"Calling all Syruses!"

"Syrus!"

Jaden looked up at Chumley, who was standing on top of a cliff, while he was standing below.

"Come on!" shouted Jaden.

He dashed off to look elsewhere, while Chumley called out for his missing friend.

"Sy! It's Grilled Cheese Day!" the koala-like boy shouted.

"Where are you, Syrus?!" yelled Jaden.

"We miss you, Sy!"

Chumley rushed over to Jaden, as the latter searched around in place. Chumley then doubled over, panting heavily.

"He'll miss dinner too, if we don't find him before the kitchen closes." gasped Chumley.

Rakaia, Rose, and Ramon then rushed over to them, also out of breath.

"He's not at the school," said Rose. "Nowhere in the forest, and nobody's seen him."

"Let's keep looking." Jaden told them.

Nearby the shore, in a rocky area, Syrus had just finished putting together a raft made out of wood, and was preparing to shove off.

"So long, Duel Academy." he sighed.

As he prepared to set sail, Jaden was drawing closer and closer, with the others following behind him. Jaden looked from side to side, wondering where his best friend was, then he heard his friend shout.

"Jaden, your deck!" called Rakaia.

Jaden turned to look at his deck case, and saw that it was glowing. Then he heard a familiar cry. His Winged Kuriboh floated beside him, and hooted at him.

"Oh, it's you." said Jaden.

The Winged Kuriboh hooted again, and this time Rakaia and Rose's decks began to glow, then Red Eyes Black Dragon and Buster Blader appeared beside their respective partners. Rakaia glanced up at the Buster Blader and yelped in surprise.

"You have a Duel Spirit, too?" asked Rakaia.

"Yeah." replied Rose.

She looked up at his Red Eyes Black Dragon, and smirked.

"Figures." she laughed.

"Ah, shut up." muttered Rakaia.

Chumley finally caught up with his friends, and stood beside Ramon, panting again.

"So hungry." he moaned. "Starting to hear...voices..."

Jaden, Rakaia, and Rose watched as their Duel Spirits took off ahead of them, instructing their partners to follow them.

"Can you find where Sy's at?" asked Jaden.

The Winged Kuriboh cried excitedly, which roughly translated to "yes".

"Quick, follow us!" commanded Buster Blader.

"There's no time to lose!" agreed Red Eyes Black Dragon.

Jaden motioned for the others to follow him, and took off.

"Aw, first no grilled cheese, and now I've gotta run!" complained Chumley. "Aw, why me?!"

"Less talking, more running!" yelled Rakaia.

Harbor- Lighthouse-

Zane stood by the tall building, staring out at the water, until he noticed Alexis walking towards him. He waited until she was right next to him so they could talk.

"So, any new leads?" the elder Obelisk student asked.

Alexis sighed and shook her head, indicating that she hadn't gotten any.

"I've reviewed the tapes that Ken and Chris made of the files from the old dorm, but it's a dead end." she told him. "I can't believe he's still gone. I keep looking for some sign, but it's like my brother just vanished into thin air."

"Don't give up." Zane encouraged his friend. "You'll find him."

"I hope so. Speaking of 'brothers', Zane, I saw yours the other day."

Zane's expression did not change upon hearing that.

"Oh, did you now?" he asked.

"Yeah, he lost in the practice duel with Jaden Yuki," Alexis continued, looking up at him. "And your name came up, too, and not in a good way."

"The big, bad brother. What, does Jaden want to scold me now?"

"Actually, I think he wants to duel you. Even though Rakaia Meiyo tried to talk him out of it. I heard you beat the kid in one turn."

"He made me swear to play at my best, and not hold anything back. I did just that. Was he sore about his loss?"

"Actually, the way he tried to warn Jaden, I think Rakaia wanted to make sure he didn't rush into the battle too carelessly."

"Stay back, Jaden!" a familiar voice cried out.

The two Obelisks turned to see Syrus standing next to a raft in the ocean, and appeared to be backing away from something.

"Look!" gasped Alexis. "It's Syrus!"

And running towards Syrus was Jaden, Rakaia, Rose, Ramon, and Chumley. Syrus' eyes widened as he made a mad dash to the raft, and prepared to escape. Jaden moved quicker though, and leapt into the air, and onto the raft before Syrus.

"Awesome jump." commented Rakaia.

He and the others watched as Jaden made to stand up straight, turning to Syrus, but the raft broke apart, and the two Slifers fell into the water. Rakaia, Rose, Ramon, and Chumley sighed, shaking their heads at the sight.

"But the landing needs work." said Rose.

"The landing needs work, or Syrus' craftsmanship does." Ramon pointed out. "Come on, we better go get them before they get themselves sick."

As the four of them went to make their way to the bottom of the cliff, Jaden and Syrus emerged from the water. Syrus immediately began flailing about, crying out for help.

"Help me, I can't swim!" he shouted.

"And you were about to raft out into the ocean?!" asked Jaden. "That makes sense?!"

Syrus turned and clung onto Jaden, making both of them sink underwater again. The other four members of the search party leapt into the water, but to their surprise, the water only went up to their waists.

"It's...shallow." said Chumley.

"Did you hear that, guys?" Rose called out to her two dormmates. "Stop goofing around and get out of the water now!"

Jaden and Syrus both re-emerged from the water, gasping for air, and coughing. Winged Kuriboh then flew over to Jaden and landed on his shoulder before disappearing, but Buster Blader and Red Eyes Black Dragon remained visible to those who could see Spirits.

"Why are you trying to stop me, Jaden?" asked Syrus. "I stink! Please, just let me go. They'll assign you a new tag partner, and you'll have a much better shot at winning the match."

"Sy, that's your brother talking!" Jaden snapped, looking at him. "Come on, pal! You've gotta believe in yourself!"

"You've gotta believe me! I'm a lost cause!"

"No, you're not!" Ramon shot back.

"He is actually right, you know." a new voice spoke up.

The Slifers and their Obelisk friend looked up to see Zane and Alexis standing on top of the cliff, looking down at them.

"Zane!" gasped Syrus.

Jaden looked up at the taller male in the white and blue-trimmed blazer, and saw the serious expression on his face.

"So, that's the school's top duelist." he muttered.

"You're dropping out?" Zane asked, keeping his gaze on his brother.

"Well,...yeah. Kinda." admitted Syrus.

"Well, it's about time."

Syrus looked back down at the water, saddened at his brother's words once again. He turned away to collect the logs, and attempt to rebuild his raft. Jaden turned to look at him, feeling sorry for the shorter teen.

"He's wrong." the E-Hero duelist spoke.

His reassurances fell on deaf ears, as Syrus' shoulders began shaking, and sounds of miserable sobbing escaped his lips. Rakaia walked over to the blue-haired teen and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Aw, Syrus, don't cry." he told him. "Come on."

Jaden watched this scene a moment longer, then growled angrily. He whirled around to glare up at Zane, and began to rant.

"You're his big brother! How can you say that?!" the Slifer duelist demanded.

"Because I know him." Zane replied, calmly.

Even Alexis found herself stunned by his words.

"Zane, that's no excuse!" Ramon said, looking up at the elder Obelisk.

"Yeah, I bet he thinks he knows it all, but guess what?!" Jaden shouted, continuing to rant. "He doesn't! And I'm gonna prove it, right now! Let's duel!"

"Here he goes again." said Rose.

"No! Jaden!" Syrus gasped, turning back to Jaden.

Zane merely glanced at Jaden for a moment.

"Duel a Slifer?" he mused. "Sure, why not? After all, it's been a while since I went slumming. I'm sure you've heard from your friend there about his duel with me."

Rakaia and Red Eyes Black Dragon hung their heads, heaving a heavy sigh.

"Then get your game on!" Jaden declared, eagerly.

"Jaden, he's good!" Syrus warned him.

"I'm sure he is.

_"And I'm sure this duel will solve Sy's confidence problem,"_ thought Jaden. _"Without hurting mine."_

Sometime Later that Evening-

Jaden and Zane stood several feet apart, with their dueldisks strapped to their arms, while Alexis, Syrus, Chumley, Rakaia, Rose, and Ramon stood on the sidelines.

"Duel!" the two duelists shouted.

They drew their five-card hands from their decks, and the lifepoint meters shot up to 4000.

"Aw, man, my big brother taking on my best friend," moaned Syrus. "There's no way that this could turn out good!"

"Sy, could you for at least five minutes stop flipping out?" asked Ramon. "Duels are supposed to be fun."

Rakaia then slowly turned to glare at him.

"Two words, Ramon: 'Abandoned Dorm'." he spoke, coolly.

"Right. Forgot." Ramon responded, sheepishly. "Sorry."

Jaden smiled, preparing to begin his move.

"Okay, now we find out what's going on with Sy and his bro, and we find out how I rank with the best!" he cheered.

Alexis watched the duel with an intense look on her face, while Rakaia began having flashbacks of his previous duel. First, the image of a three-headed monster looming over him and his Red Eyes Black Dragon, followed by his beloved dragon being decimated by a massive blast that eliminated all of his life points in one go.

_"Man, Jay, you better be careful with what you're getting yourself into."_ thought Rakaia. _"Especially when he brings out his big friend."_

"Here I come, Zane!" Jaden shouted, drawing his card. "First, I'm gonna summon Elemental Hero Avian in Attack Mode!"

He placed the card he drew down onto his dueldisk, and his bird-like Hero emerged onto the field with a backflip, then got into a fighting stance. Then Jaden placed a card into his Spell and Trap card slot, causing a set card to appear behind Avian.

"And I think I'll go ahead and throw down a facedown while I'm at it!" finished Jaden.

"That's all, huh?" asked Zane. "Okay."

He drew his card, then quickly moved to begin his turn.

"For my first move, I summon Cyber Dragon in Attack Mode!" the blue-haired Obelisk announced.

The ground exploded a little in front of him, and a mechanical serpent-like dragon appeared before him. It had spikes going down his back, and it's eyes were green. The new monster's ATK was 2100. Rakaia's eyes narrowed upon seeing it, and Alexis, Rose, and Ramon were the only ones who took notice of that.

"What?!" yelped Jaden. "How can you bring a Level 5 monster out on your very first turn?!"

"It's the Cyber Dragon's special ability." explained Rakaia.

"'Special ability'?"

"I can play my Cyber Dragon because it's my first turn, Jaden," Zane told his opponent, as he held up another card. "With no monsters out, he requires no sacrifice."

"All he needs is just a monster on your side of the field to trigger it." Rakaia concluded, staring at the ground once more.

Zane looked at him for a moment, then looked ahead once more. He placed a card into his dueldisk, and the image of what he played appeared onto the field.

"And now I'll play Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your facedown card." the school's top duelist declared.

A whirlwind shot out of the card, and shredded Jaden's set card to nothing.

"That was fast." said Jaden.

"Not as fast as your life point meter will go down." Zane told him, as his Cyber Dragon moved forward. "Cyber Dragon, attack! Strident Blast!"

The metallic monster opened it's mouth and fired a red-orange jet of flames at Jaden's Avian, and roasted him to a crisp. Jaden growled as his life points dropped from 4000 to 2900.

_"Aw, I tried to warn him that Zane was good."_ Syrus groaned, mentally.

"Next I activate the Spell card Different Dimension Capsule." Zane spoke, placing another card in his dueldisk. "It allows me to pick any card from my deck, then I simply place it in the capsule, and in two turns I get to take it out, and put it right into my hand."

The capsule, which resembled an ancient Egyptian sarcophagus, rose up from the ground, and the card flew out from Zane's deck, and into it. The coffin closed up again, and lowered back down to the ground, disappearing within it's now illuminated shadow.

"Man, that's gotta be the best card out of his entire deck!" said Jaden. "I can't wait to see what's gonna come out of there!"

Syrus wasn't as enthusiastic as him though.

_"Well I can!" _the Vehicroid duelist thought. _"Because it's not gonna be pretty!"_

"It's your move, Jaden." Zane called to his opponent.

_"Yeah, and I better make it count." _Jaden thought, preparing to draw from his deck. _"Because I'm starting to get the feeling that not only is this guy as good as everyone says he is, he might even be better. But still, that doesn't mean he's better than me!"_

"Alright, round two!" he announced, drawing his card. "And first I'll rock Polymerization!"

Said card appeared face-up onto the field, and a black portal appeared before it.

"And next I'll roll out Elemental Heroes Sparkman and Clayman!" Jaden continued, as his two monsters disappeared into the portal. "And fuse them to create Elemental Hero Thunder Giant!"

The portal and the card shattered, as a bolt of lightning crashed down onto the field, with the new Fusion Hero kneeling onto the ground. Thunder Giant then rose back up on his feet with a deep, but loud roar.

"And since his special ability destroys monsters with less ATK pts. than him, your Cyber Dragon gets vaporized!" shouted Jaden.

The cybernetic monster writhed in pain as it was consumed by a massive bolt of electricity, then shattered into pieces.

"Yes! Looks like Thunder Giant made the big man on campus a little bit smaller, wouldn't you say?" cracked the E-Hero duelist.

Rakaia then facepalmed, groaning.

_"Please don't make jokes."_ he pleaded, mentally. _"You've yet to see what this guy's really made of."_

Nobody noticed this but Alexis and Rose, who looked at him for a moment, then returned their gazes to the duel.

"Yeah, I would say it!" cheered Chumley.

"Whoa." breathed Syrus.

"And the best part is since that blast was just Thunder Giant's special ability, I still get to use his attack!" announced Jaden. "And since you're now defenseless, I'm gonna use it directly on you!"

The Thunder Giant thrusted his arms out in front of him, then a bolt of electricity shot out and hit Zane dead-on. The blast hit him, but to most of the spectator's surprise, including Jaden's, Zane wasn't fazed one bit as his life points dropped to 1600.

"You could at least kinda flinch..." muttered Jaden. "Oh well. Maybe this facedown card will get you to later."

He set a card in his Spell and Trap card slot, then a set card appeared behind his monster.

_"Yeah, if Jaden lasts long enough to use it."_ thought Syrus.

"Nice moves, kid." Zane complimented his adversary. "Of course, with my field now empty again, I can just throw out another Cyber Dragon."

He did just that, and another silver, metallic serpent-like monster rose up onto the field. Then Zane held up another card.

"Or better yet, two!" he continued. "I play Monster Reborn, and with just one monster in my graveyard, you can guess who's coming back."

The Cyber Dragon that the Thunder Giant had slayed appeared onto the field beside the other one. Then Zane held up another card.

"But neither will be here long." he announced. "In present form." he added, flipping the card around, revealing it to be Polymerization.

Rose saw Rakaia looking a bit pale now, and turned to him.

"You alright there, Rakaia?" she asked.

"Hey, you never did tell us how your duel went, Rakaia." Chumley pointed out.

Alexis, Syrus, and Ramon then turned to look at the dragon duelist, who was staring up at the two Cyber Dragons.

"You'll find out soon enough." Rakaia told them. "If I'm right, he'll either bring the monster that beat me now, or he'll use the same move that beat me and my dragon later on."

"Was it tough?" asked Ramon.

Rakaia looked down again, the memory of his defeat still haunting him.

"It was enough to make my Red Eyes look like a harmless lizard." he admitted, in a low voice.

"Dragons, unite!" commanded Zane.

The two Cyber Dragons disappeared into the dark, swirling vortex, and the others watched with anticipation.

"Now, Cyber Twin Dragon, emerge!" the Cyber duelist finished.

A two-headed version of the previous Cyber Dragon arrived onto the field, but it's heads were shaped differently, with one head having two spikes on each side of it's face, and a yellow gem embedded in it's head. Two rows of blue gems ran down it's back, and it's tail now appeared longer and thinner. It had 2800 ATK. Rose and the others looked over at Rakaia, to see that his expression had not changed.

"Is that it?" asked Chumley.

"No." replied Rakaia. "I know well enough that a Cyber Dragon in any form is serious bad news."

"That's right, because my Dragon can attack twice a round," agreed Zane. "Which means double the trouble for his monster, and life points!"

Jaden scowled at his opponent, and waited for the attacks to come.

"Twin Dragon, attack!" commanded Zane.

"Not so fast!" Jaden responded, as his facedown card flipped up. "I've got a Trap card out! A Hero Emerges!"

Syrus gasped, and Zane stared at the card.

"Now normally you'd have to randomly pick one of the cards in my hand and if it was a monster, I get to summon it." Jaden described, as he held up his card. "But since I only have one card in my hand, we'll just get right to it shall we? Wroughtweiler in Defense Mode!"

A mechanical dog wit a blue visor and blue stripes running across his body appeared onto the field with 1200 DEF.

"You'll need him!" said Zane. "Cyber Twin Dragon, Double Strident Blast!"

The twin-headed beast shot a pair of yellow beams of energy at Jaden's monsters and exterminated them. Jaden watched as his life points when down to 2500, then looked back up at Zane.

"Glad you did that, because when Wroughtweiler's destroyed, his special ability activates." he explained. "It brings one Elemental Hero and one Polymerization back from the graveyard, and into my hand!"

He took the cards from the graveyard and held them up.

"And just when you probably thought you could stop worrying about them, huh, Zane?" the E-Hero duelist said.

"I don't worry." Zane responded, calmly.

"Just like Jaden." grinned Rose. "Except when it was test day."

"Man, you're chill!" laughed Jaden. "Not worrying, not even flinching, you are good!"

Zane smiled a little at his opponent.

"You, too, Jaden." he replied.

Rakaia narrowed his eyes at Jaden, and looked over at Zane.

_"Jay, you haven't seen anything yet."_ the dragon duelist thought.

_"Whoa, since when does Zane give props?"_ Syrus wondered inwardly, surprised.

Alexis looked at them, and then looked back at the duel, as Jaden was beginning his turn.

"Now where was I?" the latter asked, drawing his card. "Oh yeah, I was about to summon Elemental Hero Bubbleman in Attack Mode!"

The armored, muscular man in the blue costume and white cape emerged onto the field, smiling.

"And since Bubbleman's the only monster out on my field, I can use his special ability to draw two more cards to my hand!" said Jaden.

After doing so, he heard the Winged Kuriboh calling out to him, and looked down at the cards he drew. It was his partner, and the Spell card Transcendant Wings.

_"'Transcendant Wings' and Winged Kuriboh! The cards I used to trash that Dragon Catapult Cannon!"_ the Slifer Red duelist remembered, thinking back to his duel with Chazz. _"An evolved Winged Kuriboh would turn Zane's Cyber Twin Dragon into a pile of cyber junk, then it's ATK pts. would be dealt to him as damage. That'd be enough to drop his life points to 0, and win the duel!"_

Then he remembered he already summoned Bubbleman, and decided to try it next time.

_"Still, I won't have to wait until next turn to use another card."_ Jaden thought, looking down at the other cards in his hand.

"Alright, Zane, I play Polymerization!" he announced. "And fuse my Elemental Hero Bubbleman with Elemental Hero Clayman!"

The two Heroes disappeared into another dark vortex, and a larger, and rounder, version of Clayman appeared from the vortex with 3000 DEF.

"Now, Elemental Hero Mudballman, rise in Defense Mode!" shouted Jaden.

"'Licious! Mudballman's got 3000 DEF pts.!" cheered Chumley. "That Twin Dragon's attack won't get through to Jaden!"

_"I can't believe it!"_ Syrus gasped inwardly._ "Jaden might actually win!"_

Rakaia wasn't convinced though, his scowl still remained in place.

"Now give me your best shot, Zane!" challenged Jaden.

"Last time I said that, I got my butt handed to me." muttered Rakaia.

"You want my best shot?" asked Zane. "You've got it!"

He drew his card, then the sarcophagus-like capsule emerged from the ground once more.

_"Oh, no!" _Syrus gasped mentally, worried.

_"The capsule!" _Jaden thought.

"It's been two turns since I activated Different Dimension Capsule," announced Zane. "And now, I can take the card I first put into it and add it to my hand."

Syrus gasped as the coffin shattered, and the card inside glowed with a bright light, then it appeared into his brother's hand.

"You played well, but not well enough." spoke Zane.

"This is it." Rakaia gasped, his eyes widening a little.

The other spectators turned to look at him, but Jaden didn't hear him.

"Hey, give me what you've got!" he declared. "I'm ready!"

"I'm sure you are, a good duelist is ready for anything, like your friend there was when he faced me before." replied Zane. "And that means not just knowing how to use all of their cards, but knowing how to play them, too. And you play your cards well, Jaden, as do your friend Rakaia."

Syrus stared at his older brother in surprise.

_"Knowing how to play your cards?"_ he repeated in his mind.

_"That's a nice compliment."_ Jaden thought, smiling. _"But even better advice. I hope Sy's listening."_

In fact he was, and he finally got what his brother was trying to say to him.

_"Of course! Knowing how to use a card, and knowing how to play it are two totally different things!"_ Syrus realized. _"That's what Zane was trying to tell me all those years ago. I get it now!"_

Zane then slid a card into his Spell and Trap card slot.

"First, I'll activate this De-Fusion card," he announced. "It splits my monster into two Cyber Dragons."

The Cyber Twin Dragon began to glow and then it disappeared into a burst of energy, which separated, then crashed down onto the ground, creating the two Cyber Dragons.

"Next, I'll activate the magic of Power Bond!" the Cyber duelist continued, holding up another card.

Syrus gasped, and the others beside him looked at Rakaia, who began sweating now.

"With this Spell card, I'm allowed to summon a Machine-type Fusion monster," explained Zane. "And with another Cyber Dragon in my hand as well, I can now fuse three of them together to create the Cyber End Dragon."

The third Cyber Dragon appeared onto the field, then a bright flash of light enveloped the field.

"This is what beat me, guys." Rakaia said, as he looked away. "He's bringing out the big guns."

A larger, three-headed hydra-like monster with massive metallic wings rose up onto the field, with blue gems embedded in it's chest and wings, and multicolored gems running down each of it's necks. This monster had 4000 ATK.

"That's the monster that took out your Red Eyes Black Dragon in one move?" asked Rose. "It could deal 1600 pts. of damage to you with the difference!"

"Pay attention, because it's ATK pts. are doubled because of Power Bond's effect!" Zane told her.

The others watched as the Cyber End Dragon was enveloped by a powerful electrical aura as it's ATK doubled to 8000.

"8000?!" yelped Chumley.

"I stand corrected." muttered Rose.

"Man, and I thought Ken's Meganites were tough." moaned Ramon.

"And keep in mind, when Cyber End Dragon attacks, the difference between his ATK pts. and your monster's DEF pts. are dealt to you as damage!" said Zane.

Jaden cracked a nervous, but excited grin. This was one very tough monster.

"Just hang tough," Chumley shouted to his friend. "If you could survive it's attack, you can win for sure because of Power Bond's nasty side effects!"

"Chumley's right," agreed Alexis. "At the end of the turn Power Bond is used, the player who activated the card takes damage equal to the attacking monster's original ATK pts.!"

_"Yeah but that won't matter if you play it right!"_ thought Syrus. _"And Zane has! I just wish it didn't have to be at Jaden's expense!"_

"Cyber End Dragon, attack Mudballman!" commanded Zane. "Super Strident Blaze!"

The three-headed beast shot a beam of energy out of their mouths once again, which combined into one massive blast. Rakaia watched the attack, his bengs overshadowing his eyes, as he remembered his own defeat at the hands of the monster. The Mudballman was struck by the blast and broke apart, as the remainder of the blast hit Jaden. His life points hit 0, and he fell to his knees.

"Jaden, no!" cried Chumley.

"I can't believe it," gasped Alexis. "He lost."

Syrus stared at his best friend for a moment, then dashed over to him.

"No!" he yelled.

He stopped however when Jaden lifted his head up, a smile on his face.

"Thanks for a great duel, Zane." he spoke, happily.

Zane merely smiled in response, before turning away. He was about to leave, but turned back to look at the Slifers, who now joined Jaden's side, especially Syrus. The look in the younger Truesdale's eyes said it all. He finally understood. Zane turned away again and began walking. Alexis raced after him, and looked at the school's best duelist.

"So, Zane, what do you think?" she asked.

"I think Sy chose good friends, Alexis." replied Zane.

The pair walked away from the harbor, while Jaden, the rest of the Slifers, and Ramon watched.

"Your brother's got mad skills!" said Jaden.

"Well, least I got the looks!" Syrus piped up.

Jaden froze up, then looked down at his roommate, then the two began laughing.

"What's funny?" asked Syrus.

After the laughter finally died down, Jaden looked down at his roommate.

"Come on, let's go home and work on our decks." he told him.

Syrus nodded in agreement, then looked up at Rakaia, who nodded as well.

"I say we arrange yours so we could use that Power Bond." declared Jaden. "How 'bout it?"

"For sure!" agreed Syrus. "Now I know to play it, not just use it!"

The conversation was then interrupted by a large growl, and the group turned to look at Chumley, who was groaning.

"Yeah, well you know what I could use?" he asked. "A couple of grilled cheese sandwiches."

His friends' stomachs rumbled in agreement, and they decided that that sounded like a good idea.

"Mind if I eat with you guys?" asked Ramon. "I seriously don't want to eat any caviar, and a grilled cheese sounds awesome."

"Not if I scarf them all down first, guys!" Jaden responded, rushing off.

"Hey!" Rakaia yelled, chasing after him. "Not on my watch, Speedy!"

"Aw, wait up!" Syrus yelled, following his friends.

"Aw, we gotta run again?!" complained Chumley.

"With Jaden, always!" Rose told him.

"That I don't have a problem with." said Ramon.

* * *

So Jaden's loss didn't turn out so bad, as it gained Syrus the knowledge as to what Zane had been trying to teach him, and it also gained Jaden a rival. Also, the mystery behind Rakaia's off-screen duel has been revealed. All that's left is just a few short days before the Trial Duels. Keep reading, and keep reviewing!

Hailey Ryan is owned by Peach Wookiee, Luna Tenshi, and Crayus and Rakaia Meiyo are obviously owned by Rakaia The Dragon Duelist, Sega Rivera is owned by Sega herself, Will Rosen is owned by 15animefreak15, Laura is owned by Hyruleepona, Taryn and Jessi Yuki are owned by Dyusu, and finally Rose Renea is owned by maymay85985. As for my OCs, Ken, Matt, Kenneth, Chris, Bella, and Ramon, they're owned by me and my Duel Club familia, along with Tony Casimir, Ms. Erin Lake, and Underground Duelists Zero and Fang. Don't own the original series part of the plot, but I did tweak with it a bit. The main plot is owned by Kazuki Takahashi and everyone else who helped bring Yu-Gi-Oh! GX into this world. Robot Alchemic Drive is developed by Sandlot, and published by Enix, so I guess they own the game. The Meganite and Volgara cards are being posted up on Deviant Art.


	18. Rise Up, Chumley!

Ch.18- Rise up, Chumley!-

Somewhere in the Ocean-

A boat was being rowed across the ocean in a semi-heavy fog, and inside the boat were two

"Put your back into it!" the bigger man commanded. "I wanna reach Academy Island by daybreak!"

"Yes, sir!" a weaker man's voice rang out.

Upon closer glancing through the fog, the man sitting down in the boat appeared to be a muscular man wearing a sleeveless white shirt and dark pants. He also had black hair and sideburns with a goatee to match, but what really stood out was his nose, which looked a lot like Chumley's. The man's dark eyes stared out ahead at the water, fixed in a stern glare as they drew closer to their destination.

_"I won't have my son wasting one more slacking day at that school!"_ he told himself mentally. _"Chumley's coming home!"_

Sometime Later that Day- The cliffs-

"This is the life!" sighed Jaden.

He laid on his back in the shade of a tall tree that stood nearby the cliffs by the Slifer Dorm, with his arms folded behind his head.

"Green grass, some warm sunshine," said Jaden. "My own private-"

"Jaden!" a familiar voice called out. "Jaden!"

Jaden opened his eyes, and reluctantly sat up from his comfortable position.

"Maybe not so private." he muttered.

Syrus rushed over to the E-Hero duelist, looking panicked again. Jaden felt he was starting to get used to seeing this, and looked up at him.

"Jaden, you've gotta come quick!" the smaller boy yelped. "Something terrible's happened!"

"That Traps test from yesterday." guessed Jaden. "You flunked, huh?"

"Actually, I got a B. Hailey said she'd tutor me, because she was already tutoring Ken, Bella, Taryn, Jessi, and Laura."

Syrus then shook his head, remembering what he wanted to tell Jaden.

"But that's not the reason why I came here, Jaden!" he explained, getting serious again. "It's Chumley! His dad just showed up!"

"Yeah? So what?" shrugged Jaden. "Did he raid our fridge?"

"No, Jaden! He came here to force Chumley to drop out!"

Jaden's face finally lit up, looking totally shocked.

"Drop out?!" he repeated. "No way, not our buddy!"

The two raced back to the Slifer dorm, and saw a group of Slifer students gathering around a door. Jaden and Syrus squeezed through and stood between Rakaia and Rose, who were eavesdropping.

"What's up?" asked Jaden.

"Check it out." Rose replied, nodding at the people inside the room.

Inside the room were Prof. Banner and a larger man who resembled Chumley, but much more muscular. The bigger man seemed to be laughing about something, but the Slifer students didn't know what.

"No way, that's his dad?" asked Jaden.

"Looks like a body builder, huh?" asked Syrus. "Though carrying Chumley around as a kid, you'd kinda have to be."

"Come on, we don't know Chumley was that big all the time." Rakaia defended, looking at his roommates.

"Bet you fifty bucks that you're wrong."

"Please, you don't even have fifty bucks."

"Oh, stop it." Rose snapped, quietly. "You're being mean."

The four of them looked back into the room where the two adults were conversing with one another.

"...I mean, don't get me wrong," Mr. Huffington continued to rant. "If Chumley was any good at dueling it'd be one thing, but clearly he's not! He's wasting his time here! It's time for him to give up dueling and come back home!"

"Hello, Father of the Year." Rose muttered, sweatdropping.

"I see your point," Prof. Banner argued, laughing uncomfortably. "Chumley is a bit, um..."

_"Go on, professor,"_ Rose encouraged her teacher inwardly. _"Back your student up."_

Then the larger man in the room interrupted the Slifer Headmaster.

"He's a bit dense, you can say it!" Mr. Huffington declared, slamming his hand down on the table. "That's why I want him to come home and join the family business!"

"Five bucks it involves grilled cheese sandwiches." whispered Rakaia.

"I bet it's not." replied Jaden.

"...The hot sauce business!" Mr. Huffington had shouted.

Rakaia cursed, and yanked a five dollar bill out of his pocket, handing it to a grinning Jaden, who pocketed it.

"Thank you." muttered Jaden.

"Shut up." Rakaia shot back, quietly.

Rose shushed them, and they continued to listen.

"You do like hot sauce?" Mr. Huffington continued to talk.

"Oh, yes, I love it!" replied Prof. Banner. "I can't get enough of it!"

"Loud and clear!"

He then placed a large red bottle of hot sauce onto the table, much to the eavesdroppers and Prof. Banner's surprise.

"Here!" grinned Mr. Huffington. "Free sample!"

_"WHO USES THAT MUCH HOT SAUCE?!" _Jaden, Syrus, Rose, and Rakaia screamed mentally, as they stared at the bottle with nutcracker-like expressions.

"No, I really couldn't." Prof. Banner politely declined.

"Oh, yes you could." Mr. Huffington pressed on. "Come on. Just think of it as a goodbye gift from me and Chumley."

_"Dude, I don't think you get it."_ Rakaia thought. _"Even Banner thinks that even that is too much hot sauce for anyone!"_

"So he's really dropping?" asked Syrus.

"No, not if we can help it, Syrus." Jaden replied, looking at him. "Come on, we've gotta go talk some sense into him."

The four Slifers backed away from the door and rushed up the stairs to Jaden, Syrus, Chumley, and Rakaia's room, and opened the door.

"Chumley,-" Jaden began.

The four Slifers stopped and saw that Chumley was packing up his belongings, not facing them, and hurried over to him.

"Hey, what're you doing, Chumley?" asked Jaden.

"What's it look like?" replied Chumley.

"It looks like you're giving up! Like you're taking everything you've worked for and throwing it away!"

Chumley ignored him.

"Like you're abandoning your dreams," said Jaden. "All of your dueling goals. And you don't even care!"

He grabbed Chumley by the shoulder, and turned him to face him, but was surprised to see that Chumley was crying. He released him, and withdrew his hand to his side.

"Chumley?" Jaden spoke.

"He does care." Syrus realized, sadly.

"No, I got something in my eye, okay?" Chumley replied, still crying. "Both of them. Now just leave me alone, would you?"

He raised an arm to rub at his eyes in an attempt to dry them.

"I mean, it's not like I'm worth wasting your time on anyway," the koala duelist continued. "At least not according to my dad, I'm not. But he doesn't know, I could really be a champion duelist. Because I have a special power that I haven't told anybody."

He had a thoughtful look on his face as he explained it to his friends.

"Sometimes Duel Monsters talk to me!" he announced.

Syrus stared at him in confusion, but Jaden, Rose, and Rakaia knew that it didn't sound crazy at all. The three of them have been able to talk to Duel Spirits also, and had their own partners.

"Well, did you tell this to your dad, Chumley?" asked Jaden.

"Of course not!" Chumley replied, obviously frustrated. "Everything to him is just hot sauce! Hot sauce!"

Jaden scowled, and pulled his roommate to his feet.

"Come on!" he told him.

Jaden pulled Chumley out of the room, leaving Syrus, Rose, and Rakaia to watch them leave, before looking at one another.

"I suppose that means we should go, too?" asked Rose.

"Always does with Jaden." replied Rakaia. "Let's go!"

They rushed out of the room after their friends, with Syrus chasing after them.

"Wait up!" he yelled.

Moments later- Chancellor Sheppard's office-

"So there you have it." said Jaden. "Chumley can't be allowed to drop out. He's got a gift."

He had just finished making Chumley's case and trying to talk Mr. Huffington, Prof. Banner, and Chancellor Sheppard into letting Chumley stay at the Academy.

"Oh, sure." Mr. Huffington scoffed. "A gift for eating grilled cheese."

Chumley now looked like a puppy that got kicked, feeling a bit hurt by the comment. Rakaia patted his roommate on the back in a comforting manner, while Jaden defended his friend.

"Look, I know Chumley," he spoke. "I'm his roommate, not to mention his pal."

"Yeah, me, too!" agreed Syrus. "What Jaden said!"

"And me, three!" added Rakaia.

"I may not be their roommate, but I live in the same dorm as them, and I'm Chumley's friend, too!" declared Rose.

Chancellor Sheppard felt a little proud of his students for having their friend's back, but had to remain professional about this.

"Look, boys, and Rose, I respect you for sticking up for your friend here," he told them. "But I'm afraid that this is a personal matter. It's not your business."

The laugh from Mr. Huffington caused him to look up at him, and saw the parent smirking suddenly.

"That's right, it's family business." he said.

"But sir...!" Jaden began.

"Which is why I propose a duel!"

Chumley looked up at him, surprised.

"That's right, father vs. son!" Mr. Huffington continued. "If you have this special gift your friends say, you should beat me easy! And I'll let you stay at the Academy! But if you lose,..."

Chumley's eyes narrowed, knowing what would happen.

"...then you come home!" his father finished.

Chumley nodded, accepting the deal.

"Good, then let's duel first thing tomorrow morning!" announced Mr. Huffington. "How does that sound, Chancellor?"

"So be it!" agreed Chancellor Sheppard. "Tomorrow morning will be decided! Will Chumley stay or go?"

Mr. Huffington then began to leave, and stopped when Ken walked into the office. Ken looked up at him, and then at Chumley and the others, then back up at Mr. Huffington.

"Yes?" asked Mr. Huffington. "Can I help you?"

Ken merely shrugged and walked into the office, while Mr. Huffington left.

"I take it that was Chumley's dad?" the Meganite duelist asked, jerking her thumb at the door.

"Yes." the remaining six people inside chorused.

"How'd you guess?" asked Chumley.

"The resemblance was uncanny." replied Ken. "But why does he reek of hot sauce?"

"It's a long story."

Chancellor Sheppard then shooed out his students and professor, so that he could speak with Ken. Jaden was the last one to pass by Ken, and he saw her expression turn serious once more.

_"Hmm."_ Jaden thought to himself, as he left. _"It's probably nothing. Bella did say she got into trouble a lot."_

After exiting from the school, the five Slifer Red students followed their headmaster back to the Slifer Red dorm.

"See, guys?" Jaden chuckled, folding his arms behind his head. "What'd I tell ya? It was a piece of cake to convince Chumley's dad to let him stay at the Academy."

"Jaden, we just convince him to a duel." Syrus reminded him. "Chumley still has to win if he's going to stay."

"Yeah, but come on! Chumley's dad doesn't know how to duel! He's an amateur! Am I right?"

"Jaden, how do you know he's an amateur?" Rose asked him, turning to him. "You've never seen him in a duel before, and you don't even know if he duels!"

"Rose is right, Jaden." Prof. Banner agreed, clearing his throat. "And here's an interesting fun fact about him: Mr. Huffington's been State Duel Champion for three years in a row."

This caused the five Slifers to stop in their tracks.

"Why do you think he was so insistent that Chumley go to dueling school?" asked Prof. Banner. "He wanted his son to be like him."

"Whoa, are you sure we're talking about the same guy?" asked Rose. "He's trying to get Chumley to drop out right now."

"Oh, I assure you that it's the same man, Ms. Renea. And wait until you see his deck."

"Betting it has koalas." muttered Rakaia.

"Five bucks says it's a hot sauce themed deck." Jaden responded, grinning.

"You're on."

Prof. Banner smiled, and looked at each of his students.

"As you all know, he earns a living off his special hot sauce," he explained. "Well his deck reflects the kick of his sauce. It can take you out in one turn, like a buffalo takes you out in one bite. Oh, and the morning after."

"I believe that's another five bucks, Mr. Meiyo." said Jaden.

"Ah, come on!" Rakaia groaned, forking over another five bucks.

"So, Chumley accepted knowing all of that?"

Jaden, Syrus, Rose, and Rakaia turned to look at Chumley who looked back at them, his game face set.

"Chumley! You must really want to stay, huh?" laughed Jaden.

He grabbed both Syrus and Chumley in a headlock, and began dancing happily.

"Come on, let's go get your deck ready, Chum!" he announced.

That night- Slifer Red Dorm-

Rakaia exited from the cafeteria, with a plate stacked with grilled cheese sandwiches in his hands, and made his way up to his room, whistling Metalingus by Alter Bridge. On the way there, he met up with Rose, who was standing outside of the room where Prof. Banner and Mr. Huffington were in.

"Rose, what-" Rakaia started.

Rose silently shushed him, and motioned him over to the door. Rakaia joined her and they leaned in closer to listen.

"Aw, come on!" Mr. Huffington shouted. "Just a little more hot sauce, you can handle it!"

"You are so very generous." said Prof. Banner.

"Are they really devouring that whole bottle of hot sauce?" whispered Rakaia.

"From what I heard, they're already on the third bottle." replied Rose.

Rakaia slowly turned to her, his jaw dropping in shock.

"Are you kidding?" he asked, quietly. "Who consumes that much hot sauce in one sitting?!"

"Apparently these guys." replied Rose.

"...and your cat from the look of it." Mr. Huffington continued to say.

This caused the two Slifers to look at each other, even more shocked.

"Even the cat's drinking it?" asked Rose.

"Yes, good thing I'm stocked up on kitty litter." Prof. Banner's voice spoke from inside the room.

"Oh, speaking of," Mr. Huffington announced. "Nature calls."

Rakaia and Rose hurried, as quietly as they could, up the steps and into the Slifer Red dorm. Jaden, Syrus, and Chumley were all sitting on the floor, looking over Chumley's deck.

"Hey, you're back." observed Jaden.

"What took you?" asked Chumley.

"Hey, be nice, or no grilled cheese sandwiches for you, mister." Rakaia joked, handing him the plate.

Chumley took the plate, and thanked him, then began to snack down on them.

"So, what's with all the koalas?" asked Jaden.

"Koalas are my favorite, duh!" his roommate replied, as if it were totally obvious.

"You know, don't get me wrong, Chumley, koalas are cool, but can you win with them?"

Before Chumley could answer Syrus suddenly stood up.

"Here, try this card out!" he said, handing him a card. "I got it a while back, but never use it. Maybe you can."

"Wow, Sy, really?" asked Chumley.

"Yeah, if you join it with one of your koalas, you'll have yourself a deck from Down Under."

Chumley's eyes began to water, and he took the card from the Vehicroid duelist.

"Oh, and I got something for you, too!" said Jaden. "It could really come in handy!"

The Next Morning- Slifer Arena-

"This is the Slifer Arena?" asked Rakaia.

"I know, right?" said Rose. "The Obelisks get this big freakin' state-of-the-art arena, while we get the more traditional-looking one."

"The keyword being 'traditional', Rose." Prof. Banner told her.

"Right. Got it, professor."

The duel between Chumley and his father took place in the Slifer Arena, which looked like a Japanese Dojo. Jaden, Syrus, Rakaia, and Rose sat on the sidelines, with a still-standing Prof. Banner acting as referee.

"Alright, Chumley, Mr. Huffington, you both know what the stakes are for this match." the professor reminded them. "If Chumley wins, he gets to stay at school. However, if he loses the duel, then, he has to go back home."

"That's right, where my hot sauce will chap your lips!" added Mr. Huffington.

"Chumley, you sure you're okay with this? Can you handle going to work at your dad's hot sauce factory? Chapped lips."

"I can handle anything right now!" Chumley replied, determined.

"Fine, then without further ado, let's begin the duel, gentlemen!"

Chumley and Mr. Huffington activated their dueldisks, with their lifepoint counters hitting 4000 each.

"Go time!" exclaimed Mr. Huffington.

Those on the sidelines watched with anticipation, and Pharoah let out a meow, as Chumley began his turn to kick off the duel.

"Here I come!" the koala duelist shouted, drawing his card.

He looked at it, and smiled.

"Totally 'licious!" announced Chumley. "First I'll place Des Koala in Attack Mode!"

He placed the card onto his dueldisk, and a massive koala with purple and beige fur appeared onto the field. His pouch was filled to the brim with leaves, and some were in his mouth. He had 1100 ATK. Mr. Huffington frowned at his son and his monster.

"In Attack Mode?" he repeated. "Don't you know if you first placed him in Defense Mode, then flipped him in Attack Mode later, Des Koala's special ability would've cost me 400 pts. of damage for every card in my hand?"

Chumley looked a little disappointed again.

"Duh, of course I knew that!" he defended himself. "At least now I do."

"Now's too late!" Mr. Huffington scolded him, as he drew his card. "You should've taken your studies more seriously! Maybe now you'll learn!"

"Doesn't stop Jaden." Rakaia pointed out.

"You're still sore about losing that ten bucks, aren't you?" asked Jaden.

Rakaia glared at him, then the Slifers continued to watch the duel. Mr. Huffington smiled at the card he drew.

"Watch him closely, children." instructed Prof. Banner. "You may learn something."

"Seeing as how he's a state champion, I don't doubt it." said Jaden. "I just hope it's not the one turn finisher he's known for."

Syrus frowned, and watched as their friend's father began his move.

"Ready, son?" asked Mr. Huffington.

"Uh-oh." gulped Chumley.

After making a few karate-like poses, Mr. Huffington began charging at his son.

"Here I come!" he called.

Chumley shut his eyes, and Jaden, Syrus, Rose, Rakaia, and Prof. Banner watched what was about to happen.

"I summon Dizzy Tiger in Attack Mode!" shouted the hot sauce tycoon.

A bipedal yellow tiger with black stripes, wearing a white shirt and and tan pants appeared onto the field. He also wore a pair of dark sunglasses, and had a red bottle in his hand. He had 1800 ATK. Once he stood up straight, a pink gas escaped the beast's lips, as the tiger began stumbling about, like a drunk.

"A Dizzy Tiger?" repeated Chumley.

"Weird." commented Jaden.

"What's going on here?" Rakaia asked, stunned.

"Yeah, why's he dizzy?" agreed Syrus.

"Yeah, it looks like too much hot sauce." replied Jaden. "But that doesn't mean that that beast doesn't still has fight left."

Mr. Huffington shot out his fist towards Chumley and his koala.

"Dizzy Tiger, attack!" he commanded. "Hot Sauce Splash!"

The tiger danced around a bit more, then impaled the Des Koala with his claw destroying it. Upon destroying it, Chumley was hit with a similar pink gas that came from the Dizzy Tiger's mouth, and he held his nose as his life points dropped to 3300.

"Aw, that's hot sauce alright!" he coughed.

"Oh, boy," groaned Jaden. "That stinks!"

"But his attack sure didn't." said Syrus.

Mr. Huffington laughed as his monster continued to dance around, drunkenly,

"At this rate, we'll be home before dinner." he stated. "Which'll be hot sauce I might add!"

"I'll tell you what you can do with your hot sauce!" snapped Chumley.

"Hey, keep your cool there, Chumley!" Jaden told him.

"It's nice that he's standing up for himself in front of his dad though." commented Syrus.

He looked up at Mr. Huffington, who shot him a look, which sent the smaller teen scrambling behind Jaden and Rakaia. Rakaia looked up at Syrus, and shook his head at him.

"Chum! Fight back!" shouted Jaden.

"I know!" snapped Chumley.

He lowered his hand to his deck, and drew a card to start his turn, and looked at it. It was another Des Koala.

"'Licious!" the elder Slifer student spoke under his breath. "Yeah, this just might work!"

He took another card from his hand and held it up.

"Alright, I activate the Spell card Koala March!" he announced, as the card began to glow. "With it, I can summon a koala monster back from my graveyard, as long as it's a Level 4 or below."

The first Des Koala card ejected from the graveyard, and Chumley placed it onto his dueldisk, causing his late monster to reappaer onto the field in Attack Mode.

"Hey, look, Jaden!" exclaimed Syrus. "Now Chumley has his Des Koala on the field again!"

"That's true, I just hope that he can work it better this time around." said Jaden.

"Not 'it'. 'Them'." Prof. Banner corrected his student. "Koala March also lets him summon another monster from his hand, if it's the same one he brought back from the graveyard. And it I know Chumley,..."

"I summon another Des Koala!" shouted Chumley.

He placed it onto his dueldisk in Attack Mode, and a second Des Koala joined the first one side by side.

"I sacrifice both of them to summon Big Koala!" announced the koala duelist.

The two koalas leapt into the air, then began to merge as they were engulfed in a bright light. Moments later, a larger blue koala appeared onto the field, this time with no leaves on his person at all. This new koala had 2700 ATK.

"Not bad." Mr. Huffington admitted.

"No duh not bad!" responded Chumley. "Now, Big Koala, attack Dizzy Tiger!"

The blue koala began charging at the drunken beast in a mad dash almost immediately.

"Beatdown from Down Under!" shouted his owner.

The koala picked up the tiger with one paw, then slammed it back down, smashing the opposing monster to pieces. Mr. Huffington took 900 pts. of damage from the battle, leaving him with 3100.

"Dizzy Tiger's gonzo!" said Chumley.

Mr. Huffington didn't respond, but Chumley's friends certainly did, by cheering him on.

"That's the way you do it!" yelled Jaden.

"So, you wanna fight?" said Mr. Huffington. "Alright, let's fight."

He drew a card from his deck, placed it onto his dueldisk.

"I call Dizzy Angel!" he said.

A male angel weaing a white suit, and a black hat over his long, flowing blond hair rose up onto the field, his feathered wings spread wide. He landed onto the field the same way the Dizzy Tiger did, then once standing up straight, he began stumbling about extremely drunk. This new monster had 1800 also. A familiar pink cloud exhaled from the Angel's lips, as he stumbled around.

"He reeks of hot sauce too." Chumley pointed out. "And from how he can hardly stand up, I'd say he's had his fair share of it!"

"Are all of his monsters going to be drunk as skunks?" asked Rakaia.

"God, I hope not." Rose replied, pinching her nose. "I can't take the smell of hot sauce anymore."

_"We better just hope that Pharoah doesn't let one rip then."_ thought Rakaia.

Back on the field, Chumley appeared to have froze up on the spot as he looked at the Dizzy Angel.

_"I'm starting to hear those weird monster voices again!"_ he gasped inwardly.

"Now, I activate the Spell card Hot Sauce Bottle!" Mr. Huffington's voice shouted, breaking Chumley out of his trance.

The koala duelist snapped out of it, and watched as another bottle appeared onto the field, floating in midair. Almost instantly, the angel leaned in a little, staring at it like it was the most beautiful thing he ever saw.

"Ugh, is everything hot sauce with this guy?" asked Syrus.

Another look from Mr. Huffington sent the smaller teen running, as the latter hid behind Jaden and Rakaia again.

"Uh, Sy, stop hiding behind Superboy now, please?" Rose pleaded, feeling a bit embarrassed.

Mr. Huffington held up another Spell card, ready to use.

"And I also activate the Spell card Flipping the Table!" he added, as the card began to glow.

Chumley looked around and saw that he, his Big Koala, his dad, Dizzy Angel, and the new hot sauce bottle were standing on a large table. What surprised him even more was that his father jumped back to grab the edge of the table, then flip it upwards. Chumley yelled as he fell backwards, while the two monsters on the field began tumbling in midair, along with the bottle of hot sauce. Then he watched as the Big Koala crashed down onto the field, and exploded into dust. Chumley coughed violently from the smoke, while his father laughed.

"What a card!" Mr. Huffington chuckled. "It destroys everything on my field, everything except for itself that is, and then the same amount of cards on your field are also destroyed! Now you're left defenseless!"

"That must be his special one strike attack!" gasped Syrus.

"Yeah, and I don't know if I like it." groaned Jaden. "It totally resets the field! It's hardly even fair!"

"The perfect card for parents." muttered Rakaia.

"That's just like you!" agreed Chumley. "You don't like something, so you trash it!"

"See? Even Chumley agrees!"

"Hey, not all parents are bad, Smokestack." Rose shot back.

Mr. Huffington began to laugh again, before glancing at his son once more.

"I didn't get to be a hot sauce tycoon by being nice, son." he explained.

"Uh, guys," Rakaia spoke, pointing at the field. "Isn't that supposed to be gone, too?"

Jaden, Syrus, and Rose looked to see the Dizzy Angel still on the field, dancing his drunken dance.

"Hey, why is Angel back?" asked Chumley. "Wasn't he destroyed by Flipping the Table?"

Mr. Huffington merely laughed in response.

"Wishful thinking," he stated. "But you see, Dizzy Angel has a special ability. He can't be destroyed by the effect of Flipping the Table."

"What?!" yelped Chumley. "Aw, great!"

He watched as the Dizzy Angel began dancing and hiccuping, while floating a little in the air.

"This guy's gonna keep weirding me out." he groaned.

"You're not alone there, Chum." spoke Rose.

"Gets worse." declared Mr. Huffington. "Because when my one Hot Sauce Bottle is destroyed and sent to the graveyard, it's special effect activates...that costs you 500 pts. of damage!"

A pink fog of spice began forming around his son, and the koala duelist had to hold his nose to keep the stink out. Unfortuantely, his life points weren't so lucky, as they dropped down to 2800.

"Is that the stink, too?" he asked.

"But I'm not done yet!" announced Mr. Huffington. "Dizzy Angel, go in for your attack! Hot Sauce Sizzler!"

The Dizzy Angel responded by holding up his hot sauce with the opening aimed at Chumley, then a stream of red light shot out at him. Another red cloud of hot sauce spice struck the teenager, and costed him another 1800 pts., leaving him with 1000. His friends gasped in horror, knowing that another attack would cost him the duel.

"I just can't win!" growled Chumley.

Mr. Huffington then stood down, ending his turn there, and watched his son prepare to make his final move.

_"Don't worry, son." _the elder man thought, smiling. _"This'll be over soon."_

"Make your move why don't ya!" he called aloud.

"But make sure you think it through, Chumley." Prof. Banner added, as he pet Pharoah. "Otherwise you'll be back home bottling hot sauce."

"Duh! I know!" said Chumley.

He was beginning to feel pressure rising. If he didn't draw the right card this turn, he was toast. The elder Slifer student drew his card, and looked at it, his eyes narrowing a bit.

_"Hey, it's this card."_ he thought.

Flashback- Last night- Slifer Red Dorm-

_"Here, try this card out!" Syrus had said, handing Chumley a card. "I got it a while back, but never use it. Maybe you can."_

_"Wow, Sy, ya mean it?" asked Chumley._

_"Yeah, if you join it with one of your koalas, you'll have yourself a deck from Down Under."_

End Flashback

_"Well I guess now's a good a time as any."_ Chumley spoke, inwardly.

He took another card from his hand and held it up.

"First I activate the Spell card Silent Doom!" he announced, while the card began to glow. "With it, I'm allowed to summon one monster back to the field from the graveyard!"

Chumley waited until the card he wanted slid out of the graveyard slot, then took it out, and placed it onto his dueldisk.

"And I choose Big Koala!" he announced, as the monster appeared onto the field.

The Big Koala rose up onto the field, with 2000 DEF.

_"They won't kick me out without a fight!"_ Chumley declared, mentally.

"Next I activate Polymerization!" he shouted out loud, holding up another card. "And fuse Big Koala with the Des Kangaroo in my hand!"

The Des Kangaroo, a green-furred kangaroo wearing red boxing gloves on his paws, an open purple vest, and red boots with purple laces, emerged onto the field, with 1700 ATK. Then he and the Big Koala leaped into the air to merge.

"To create the Master of Oz!" finished Chumley.

The merging of the two Beast monsters completed, with a massive green and yellow furred koala emerging onto the field. He had a kanagaroo-like tail, a pair of red boxing gloves, a purple and yellow-trimmed vest with a wrestling belt over his right shoulder, and red and white boots. There was a scar on his left eye, and black mustache on his upper lip, and there was brown hair coming from his ears and armpits. This monster had 4200 ATK. Mr. Huffington merely "hmphed" at it, not surprised in the least.

_"Like I didn't see that coming." _he thought.

Flashback- Last night- Slifer Red Dorm-

_Mr. Huffington was standing outside when he heard his son and his friends talking in their room. He heard Syrus already giving a card to Chumley to use, but now Jaden's voice was heard._

_"Oh, and I got something for you, too!" said Jaden. "It could really come in handy!"_

_Inside the room, Jaden was handing Chumley a Fusion Monster card, one with a picture of what appeared to be a cross between a kangaroo and a koala, with green fur and a boxing outfit._

_"After all, with 4200 ATK pts., it packs a pretty good wallop." the E-Hero duelist said._

_"You would really just give me such a powerful card, Jaden?" asked Chumley._

_"Yeah, of course I would."_

_Jaden then rubbed at the tip of his nose, smiling._

_"We're buddies, and that's what buddies do for each other." he said. "Besides, you belong here with us."_

_Chumley looked at the card, and smiled. The group were unaware of the presence outside of their room, as Chumley's father watched the moment from outside the door._

End Flashback-

Mr. Huffington smiled to himself, as he watched his son continue the move.

"Now, go, Oz!" shouted Chumley. "Outback Attack!"

The Master of Oz reared back a fist, and let it fly into the Dizzy Angel, which knocked him back across the field before shattering into white pixels.

"What a shot!" commented Jaden.

Mr. Huffington coughed from the smoke of the explosion, and his life points plummeted to 700, much to the displeasure of the Slifer students.

"I'm still here!" he called.

"Yeah? So bring it!" his son challenged.

"Aw, man, Chum almost had him there!" groaned Syrus. "This is close!"

"Yeah, this one's goin' right down to the wire!" said Jaden.

Rose then shot up from where she was sitting, and pumped her fists into the air.

"Go, Chumley! Go!" she cheered. "Kick some parental unit butt!"

"Yeah, clean his clock, guys!" Rakaia agreed, giving a few whoops also.

Then they smelled the hot sauce again and sat back down, holding their noses.

"Ugh..." they groaned. "Where is it coming from?"

A meow then answered their question, and the two Slifers looked over at Pharoah, who was laying on his back, purring comfortably.

"Anyone have any air freshener?" asked Rakaia.

As Chumley ended his turn, his dad addressed him.

"Chumley." called Mr. Huffington. "You fought a good duel, but you've lost."

"What're you talking about?!" demanded Chumley. "Master of Oz has 4200 ATK pts.!"

"It doesn't matter! You forget, with one flip of the table, he'll be gone!"

"That card doesn't scare me, dad! You forget! I know it's weakness!"

The rest of the audience stared at him in surprise.

"Flipping the Table has a weakness?" asked Jaden.

"That's right, once you use it, you can't summon up a monster!" replied Chumley. "And that means, you'll be defenseless, dad! I'll win, you'll lose!"

Mr. Huffington was very amazed that he knew such a thing, and smiled.

"Not bad, son, you've accurately spotted the card's weak spot!" he said, proudly. "I'm very impressed with you!"

Then his game face reappeared in place of his proud smile.

"But still, it won't change things!" he stated. "See, with what I have planned, so what if I'm defenseless!"

He then placed two cards into the Spell and Trap card slots.

"Two Hot Sauce Bottles!" he called.

Two red bottles appeared on either side of the Master of Oz, and the others knew that this was very bad.

"Wait, if one Bottle's destroyed, he takes 500 pts. of damage," Syrus spoke, counting off his fingers. "So if two are destroyed,-"

"It'll be bad." Jaden finished for him.

"Aw, no." groaned Rose.

"I activate Flipping the Table!" Mr. Huffington shouted.

He grabbed the sides of the table, and gave it a mighty flip. The giant Fusion Monster and the two Hot Sauce Bottles tumbled into the air and collided, creating a massive explosion, while Chumley coughed violently from the smoke.

"That's two Bottles down!" Mr. Huffington announced, holding up two fingers. "So that means 1000 pts. of damage to you!"

Chumley stared at his father for a moment, then the familiar pink fumes surrounded him again, making him cough. His life points dropped to 0, and his friends could only watch in sadness, knowing what this meant.

"I can't believe it." gasped Syrus. "He lost."

"Poor Chumley." said Jaden.

They watched as their friend sank to his knees, totally heartbroken that he was really leaving. He was unaware though that Mr. Huffington was watching his son, the wheels turning in his head. Later on, Chumley was back in his room, packing, while his friends were trying to talk him out of leaving.

"Chumley, come on, you really don't have to go, do you?" asked Syrus.

"Duh." replied Chumley. "I made a promise, and I'm gonna keep it."

"Then this is really it?"

Syrus began to whimper, as tears rolled down his face. Rose walked over to him, and patted his shoulder.

"You're a good duelist, Chumley." Jaden told his now former roommate. "Good luck."

He extended a hand for Chumley to take, and he did with both hands.

"Same to you!" the koala duelist responded.

He began crying also, like Syrus, but it didn't last long.

"Anyway, I better get going now." sighed Chumley. "There's a whole lot of hot sauce out there that needs bottling."

"And I'm sure you'll bottle it great!" said Jaden.

"Yeah, and make sure you write every week!" Rakaia added also.

Rose then stepped forward, with a bag in her hands.

"Made you some grilled cheese sandwiches for the trip." she offered.

"Thank you, Rose." Chumley thanked her. "You're the best. Tell the others I said 'goodbye', and good luck in their Trial Duels."

The others nodded, and walked him to his ride home. However, on the way there, they saw Prof. Banner waiting for them by the bridge.

"Hey, Professor, where's my dad?" asked Chumley.

"Your father had to go." replied Prof. Banner. "Something went wrong with the milds."

His students stared at him in confusion, and he took out a folded-up piece of paper.

"But he wrote you this, and wanted me to give it to you." said the alchemy professor.

Chumley took it and unfolded it, then began to read it.

"'Dear son, there's more to school than just your studies, and while you may not have made great grades there, you've made some great friends.'" he read aloud. "'That's reason enough for you to stay.'"

He began to tear up again, and charged forward.

"Dad!" he called.

The others watched as he raced over by the edge of the cliff, with his hands cupped over his mouth.

"Daddy! I won't let you down! I won't let any of you down!" Chumley shouted across the ocean. "From here on out, I'm gonna make you proud of me! My family, and my friends!"

His friends from Slifer Red joined him, as he looked out at the horizon. Elsewhere, Mr. Huffington sat in the rowboat, barking orders at the man rowing them.

"Come on! Put your back into it!" he snapped. "There's a case of hot sauce in it for you if we get back before dawn!"

* * *

Finally completed. So, Chumley and his dad dueled for the right to stay in school, but while Chumley lost, his dad relented and allowed him to stay at the Academy. Another trial completed in the series, and speaking of trials, the Trial Duels are coming up next!

Hailey Ryan is owned by Peach Wookiee, Luna Tenshi, and Crayus and Rakaia Meiyo are obviously owned by Rakaia The Dragon Duelist, Sega Rivera is owned by Sega herself, Will Rosen is owned by 15animefreak15, Laura is owned by Hyruleepona, Taryn and Jessi Yuki are owned by Dyusu, and finally Rose Renea is owned by maymay85985. As for my OCs, Ken, Matt, Kenneth, Chris, Bella, and Ramon, they're owned by me and my Duel Club familia, along with Tony Casimir, Ms. Erin Lake, and Underground Duelists Zero and Fang. Don't own the original series part of the plot, but I did tweak with it a bit. The main plot is owned by Kazuki Takahashi and everyone else who helped bring Yu-Gi-Oh! GX into this world. Robot Alchemic Drive is developed by Sandlot, and published by Enix, so I guess they own the game. The Meganite and Volgara cards are being posted up on Deviant Art.


	19. Schooling Crowler

Ch.19- Schooling Crowler-

Duel Academy- Hallways-

**(12 Stones' We Are One* begins playing)**

The day had finally come, the Trial duels were taking place today, and the students had already gone down to the Obelisk Arena to get good seats. All except Jaden and Syrus, who began making their way down there, with Jaden leading ahead. They had just departed from the Slifer dorm after making the finishing touches to their decks for their tag duel, and were now ready for their duel. Jaden's face was set, while Syrus appeared to be nervous still. As the two Slifers continued their march down the hall, they saw Ms. Lake waiting a little ways down from where they were. She had her back against the wall, and her right hand in her pocket, while her left was hanging at her side, a dueldisk attached to her arm. Instead of wearing her work clothes, Ms. Lake wore a white blouse with her gold necklace visible around her neck, a pair of blue jeans, and black heels. She would be the only one of the group who was dressed in casual wear, while the six students dueling alongside her were dressed in their school uniforms. The red-haired teacher waited until the two Slifer Red students were close enough, then moved to join them in their march. As they continued to walk, time began to slow down for Syrus. He looked up at his best friend and the paraprofessional walking with him, they seemed much more braver about this than he was. Despite what was on the line, they were calm and collected about this. Syrus couldn't help but crack a smile, feeling a little motivated by them. His face then too became set with determination and bravery, even when they approached Rakaia and Chris, who were walking down another hallway to join them. The inter-dorm team joined Jaden's left, the five of them walking in a steady line. After a few more minutes of walking, they saw Ken and Hailey waiting near the hallway which led the arena's entrance. Ken still bore an expression of pure seriousness on her face, as she stared down at her deck, while Hailey looked at her, concerned. Jaden and the others joined them, and the group marched into the doorway, where they were met with the sounds of their fellow classmates chattering. Jaden then turned to look at his friends.

"This is it, guys." he told them. "We all ready?"

"Always." replied Rakaia.

"Better believe it." agreed Hailey.

Ken merely grunted in response, pushing her glasses up a little on the bridge of her nose, while Syrus nodded.

"Kids, I'm gonna need you to promise me something," said Ms. Lake. "Have faith, have courage, and most importantly, have fun in your duels."

Syrus looked up at her, confused. Jaden met that response with a smile and a nod.

"She's right, getting all worked up won't help anyone's game." he agreed, enthusiastically. "Stay focused, but also stay calm. Got it?"

All but Syrus and Ken cheered, and the seven of them faced the opening that led to the arena.

"Alright, guys, let's get our game on!" shouted Jaden.

Inside Obelisk Arena-

"The trial duels will begin in just a few moments, and remember, these are test conditions." the voice on the P.A. system spoke. "These are sudden expulsion matches, and a Duel Academy staff member may get fired today."

Students piled into the bleachers, wanting to get a glimpse of what was to come. On one side of the bleachers sat Bastion and Matt, were stared down at the stage where their friends were going to battle for their rights to continue their lives at the school.

"This bites." Matt groaned, nervously.

"A tad harsh, I'd say." agreed Bastion.

"No joke, guys." Alexis' voice rang out to them.

Bastion and Matt looked up to see Alexis scooting over to sit down beside Bastion, and the rest of the gang were clamboring into seats around them.

"You're Bastion Misawa, a friend of Jaden's, right?" asked Alexis.

"I suppose you could say that," replied Bastion. "And you're Alexis Rhodes, yes? You live in the same dorm as Matthew and Rakaia's friends."

"Yeah, I'm also part of the reason why they're in this mess, they were helping me at that Abandoned Dorm."

Bastion stared at her, surprised.

"I see." he said.

Alexis nodded, and looked down at the dueling field.

"But if anyone's in need of help, it's them." she went on. "All seven of them."

"Yes, Matt's told me that his two friends and his paraprofessional will be dueling in these matches as well." Bastion responded, looking at Matt.

"Have you guys heard though? Rumors are that Crowler arranged for professional duelists to duel them, two of them being tag team legends. Duelists that worked with the creator of duel monsters himself."

"Send in the accused!" the voice on the P.A. spoke again. "Erin Lake, Chris Norwood, Rakaia Meiyo, Hailey Ryan, Ken Warren, Syrus Truesdale, and Jaden Yuki."

Sitting in the bleachers nearby the doorway leading out of the arena, Chazz watched as Jaden led the group that would be dueling today. Irritated, the Obelisk elitist slammed his foot against the seat in front of him, surprising Topher and Conklin, who were sitting several seats away from him.

"Whoa, the acoustics in here are great!" observed Jaden.

"Yeah, you think maybe they'd count your echo as your tag partner?" asked Syrus.

Jaden reached over and ruffled Syrus' hair, grinning.

"For the last time, you're my partner!" he laughed.

"Doesn't hurt to ask though!" Syrus said, following Jaden further into the arena.

"Those Slifer slackers," Chazz complained from his seat. "It should be me taking you out, but I guess as long as someone does it."

The seven duelists below walked over to the arena, and then Jaden looked up at the bleachers.

"Hey! Chumley made it here!" he said, smiling.

"Just barely." muttered Syrus.

"Aw, don't complain." Rakaia told him. "He's offering moral support, isn't he?"

Back up where Chumley was standing, the koala duelist leaned against the railing, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"I thought running was healthy." he muttered to himself.

He looked up to see Jaden and Rakaia waving at him, before the Slifers continued moving forward on stage. Syrus began to follow, until he spotted a familiar figure standing behind a railing also, but several feet away from Chumley.

_"Well, little brother, time to see if you belong here, or on the next plane out of here."_ thought Zane.

_"Zane!" _Syrus gasped inwardly.

He took a deep breath, and continued following his friends, repeating the mantra "Gotta believe in myself!" over and over again in his mind.

"Now, let's get this show on the road!" Dr. Crowler announced, looking around at the audience. "Here's how the duels will go. We'll start off with Ms. Erin Lake's duel, then Hailey and Ken's, then Rakaia and Christopher's, and finally Jaden and Syrus'. Now, will all but Ms. Lake please be seated by the bleachers so we can begin this duel?"

Jaden and the other five turned to leave while Ms. Lake remained behind, then stopped, turning back to her.

"Show 'em what you've got, Ms. Lake." Jaden told her.

"Don't worry, I intend to." Ms. Lake responded, a fierce grin on her face.

She waited until the six students were seated in the chairs set up by the entrance, then placed her deck in her dueldisk. Upon looking up, she saw Dr. Crowler setting up his own dueldisk.

"You're my opponent?" asked Ms. Lake.

"Is that a problem, Erin?" asked Dr. Crowler.

"No, not at all."

The two teachers took their places on opposite sides of the field, and activated their dueldisks.

"Let's do this!" they shouted.

The lifepoint meters hit 4000, and they drew their hands from their deck, then Dr. Crowler began the duel. He drew a card from his deck, and observed his hand.

"Let me show you how it's done, Ms. Lake," the Ancient Gear duelist said, holding up a card. "I first activate the Spell card Cost Down, which allows me to downgrade all the monsters in my hand by two levels, but to do that, I need to discard a card."

He selected another card from his hand, and placed it into the graveyard slot.

"Now, I play my Ancient Gear Beast in Attack Mode!" announced Dr. Crowler.

He placed a card down onto his dueldisk, and a mechanical beast that resembled a mountain lion made of machine parts emerged onto the field. It had 2000 ATK. Ms. Lake looked from the monster to Dr. Crowler with a bored expression.

"Am I supposed to be impressed?" she asked.

"You will be soon enough." replied Dr. Crowler.

"Well, if you're finished now, I'd like to begin my move."

With that, the redheaded teacher drew her card, and looked at it.

"Hope you like playing in the water, because I'm activating the Field Spell A Legendary Ocean!" she announced, holding the card she drew up.

As soon as she put the card in the Field Spell slot, a torrent of water splashed out of the dueldisk, and waves began surging out around the audience. Jaden and the other five with him gasped as a huge tidal wave headed their way.

"Surf's up!" yelled Rakaia.

The wave struck them, and soon the whole arena began filling up with water.

"Okay, now I'm up for running!" yelped Chumley.

He began scrambling out of the water's reach, but found that it was too late as the arena was completely filled up. The students in the bleachers began panicking, until they suddenly realized that they could breathe and calmed down. They also saw that the arena changed, and they were now seated on ancient stone seats, with ruins surrounding them.

"Is that the best you could do?" asked Dr. Crowler.

"No, not really!" Ms. Lake replied, enthusiastically. "You see, because of this Field Spell, all WATER monsters in our hands and on the field are downgraded by one level. So I get to play this big guy. My Terrorking Salmon!"

She placed a card on the dueldisk, and a demonic looking fish appeared onto the field with 2400 ATK.

"That is one scary fishy." commented Sega.

"It's about to get even scarier, because all WATER monsters on the field get a 200 ATK and DEF pt. boost." Bastion explained to her. "Which makes it strong enough to hurt Crowler quite a bit, and destroy his Beast."

"And he'll do just that!" declared Ms. Lake. "Terrorking Salmon, attack Ancient Gear Beast! Shred Frenzy!"

The Terrorking Salmon swam forward at a furious speed and tore apart the Ancient Gear Beast in a blur, which ended in the Machine monster's destruction. Dr. Crowler winced and growled as his life points dropped from 4000 to 3400.

"I think you've had enough for now," Ms. Lake said, placing a card in her Spell and Trap card slot. "So I'll end my turn with a facedown."

Dr. Crowler watched as a set card appeared behind the Terrorking Salmon, which swam back to join it's master.

"Good move, for an amateur." he complimented her. "But not good enough for what I have in store for you."

He drew his card, then smirked.

"I summon to the field my Ancient Gear Statue." he announced.

Ms. Lake and the rest of the audience watched as what appeared to be a sculpture made of what was once an Ancient Gear monster and several other scrapped parts emerge onto the field. It had 500 ATK pts..

"I know, it doesn't look like much, but it's special ability certainly is something to gawk at," said Dr. Crowler. "By tributing my Statue, I can bring out an Ancient Gear Golem from my hand."

Ms. Lake stared at him with wide eyes, as if she didn't hear right.

"What?!" she gasped.

The Ancient Gear Statue disappeared, and in it's place was the colossal Ancient Gear Golem. The audience members gasped and whispered to one another. Matt leaned forward in his seat, a bead of sweat running down his face.

"Oh, crap." he moaned.

"That was certainly one heck of a move." said Bastion.

"I'll say." agreed Rose. "Ms. Lake might be in major trouble here."

Dr. Crowler laughed to himself, then pointed at Ms. Lake.

"Now, Ancient Gear Golem, take out her Salmon with Mechanized Melee!" he shouted.

The giant metal monster reared back a fist, then launched it at Ms. Lake's Terrorking Salmon, and destroyed it the moment it's fist connected with the fish. Ms. Lake's life points dropped from 4000 to 3600.

"Oh, you're not being let off the hook so easily, Erin," Dr. Crowler continued, holding up another card. "This is the Ancient Gear Explosive Spell card, I combine this with my Ancient Gear Golem, and take a huge chunk out of your life points. Half of my Golem's ATK to be specific."

A grenade-shaped item with gears all over it appeared in the Ancient Gear Golem's hands, and the Golem got into the pitcher's position, and threw the explosive like a baseball. Ms. Lake barely had enough time to shield herself when the device struck her. Her life points then plummeted to 2100 after the smoke cleared away from the field. She regained her composure, as she prepared to draw her card.

"Alright, Vellian, now I'm angry." Ms. Lake spoke, her eyes flashing. "And you don't want to get a lady angry."

She drew her card, and looked at it.

_"My Silent Abyss, too strong to bring out." _she thought, looking at her hand now. _"I better come up with another plan."_

Her eyes then fell on one card in her hand, and she smiled. She put the card she drew into her hand, and took another one out.

"Here we go! Shark Cruiser in Defense Mode!" she announced, putting the card on her dueldisk.

A machine that looked like a boat, but made to look like a shark also appeared onto the field in front of Ms. Lake. It's mean red eyes glared at Dr. Crowler and his Ancient Gear Golem. This monster had 2200 DEF, with 200 extra DEF pts. because of A Legendary Ocean's effect.

"Next I play Moray of Greed!" said Ms. Lake. "I put two WATER monsters back into my deck, shuffle them up, and draw three times."

After doing so, she looked at the three new cards in her hand, and looked back at her opponent.

"Alright, Crowler, that's all I can do for this turn," she called out to him. "Give me your best shot!"

"So be it!" Dr. Crowler replied, drawing his card. "First I play my Ancient Gear Drill, and discard a card to put a Spell card in my Spell and Trap card zone."

He put both cards in his graveyard, then searched through his deck until he came across the card he wanted, and held it up for Ms. Lake to see. To her horror, as well as the others in the audience, it was another Ancient Gear Explosive.

"Aw, man, if Ms. Lake doesn't beat him on her next turn, she'll be fired!" gasped Syrus.

"Don't count your cards before they're played, Sy," Ken spoke, suddenly. "It's not over yet."

The other five turned to look at her, as Ken sat forward, her hands folded in front of her face, a calm, but tense look on her face. Jaden studied her expression for a moment, then smiled.

"I believe what you're saying, Ken." he said. "Ms. Lake's gonna kick Crowler's butt."

"Yeah, you can do it, Ms. Lake!" Chris agreed, standing up to cheer the woman on.

"Go, Ms. Lake!" Matt's voice shouted next.

Then other people in the audience began chanting Ms. Lake's name, causing her to look around, surprised.

_"They're all...cheering."_ she thought, surprised. _"And they're rooting for me."_

Dr. Crowler however scowled at his colleague.

_"They won't be cheering for you for long,"_ he growled mentally. _"I'll see to it that you and the other slackers get kicked out of my school!"_

"Ancient Gear Golem, take out her Cruiser!" he shouted. "Mechanized Melee!"

The Ancient Gear Golem reared back it's fist once again, and launched it into the Shark Cruiser's face. Ms. Lake raised her arms to shield herself from the aftershock of the blast, and her life points dropped to 1500. She began to hear chuckling coming from her opponent, and glared at the Ancient Gear duelist when she dropped her arms.

"One more turn, and you'll be out of here, Erin." said Dr. Crowler.

"I'm not out yet, Vellian!" declared Ms. Lake. "And to prove it, I activate my Shark's ability! By destroying it, you've allowed me to Special Summon a couple of WATER monsters from my deck! And I choose my Mother Grizzly and my Piranha Army!"

A full-grown bear with black fur and an army of green and blue demonic-looking piranha appeared on the field in place of the late Shark Cruiser. The Mother Grizzly had 1400 ATK, which became 1600 because of A Legendary Ocean's effect, while Piranha Army's ATK went from 800 to 1000.

"Now I know you're ready to give up." cackled Dr. Crowler. "And I don't blame you. Why not just throw the duel now, so you have time to work out your resume?"

"Why don't you go work on your attitude after I'm done kicking your butt?!" snapped Ms. Lake.

Matt sat back in his seat, and looked around at his friends.

"Yeah, that's my paraprofessional telling the doc off right there!" he told them, proudly.

His friends laughed a little, then returned their gaze to the duel, as Ms. Lake was getting ready to kick off her turn. She drew her card, and smiled at it, before putting it in her hand, and taking another card out, putting it in her Spell and Trap card slots.

"I play Big Wave Small Wave," she declared, as the card appeared on the field. "It's effect destroys all WATER monsters I have in play, and Special Summon the same number of WATER monsters I have in my hand, regardless of level!"

A huge wave appeared behind Mother Grizzly and Piranha Army and swept them out of sight, then another wave appeared from the one that destroyed the monsters and washed over Ms. Lake's field again. Now on the field were a mermaid and a massive blue sea serpent. The mermaid was armed with a sword and a silver shield, while dressed in a blue armored top. She had 1700 ATK. The sea serpent looked like a demonic Loch Ness monster with the face of a piranha. It had 3100 ATK. Dr. Crowler froze up at the sight of the monster that had outmatched his Golem.

"Now, wait, let's talk about this!" he pleaded. "Maybe over a cup of coffee?"

"Not a chance!" snarled Ms. Lake. "Spiral Serpent, attack Ancient Gear Golem with Spiral Wave!"

The Spiral Serpent began swimming around and around at a fast rate, creating a gigantic whirlpool which sucked in the Ancient Gear Golem. It was only a matter of seconds before it was destroyed, and Dr. Crowler watched as his life points dropped by 100, leaving him with 3300.

"Now, Mermaid Knight, attack him directly!" shouted Ms. Lake. "Atlantic Strike!"

The green-finned mermaid swam forward, raising her sword over her head, then slashed at Dr. Crowler, dealing 1700 pts. of damage to him. He was now left with 1700. Dr. Crowler looked from his dueldisk, then up at Ms. Lake, laughing.

"Wow, that was close." he said. "You almost had me! I'm still standing!"

"Uh, I wouldn't count on that." Ms. Lake told him. "Did you know that Mermaid Knight can attack twice?"

"Only when the Umi Field Spell is in play."

Then his eyes widened in shock upon seeing Ms. Lake's chipper smile.

"Oh, don't tell me..." the Ancient Gear duelist moaned.

"That's right," Ms. Lake sang. "Legendary Ocean is also treated as 'Umi', which grants my Knight her special power."

Dr. Crowler watched as the Mermaid Knight struck him again, eliminating the last of his life points. The holograms faded, and their dueldisks deactivated.

"See you in class, Vellian." Ms. Lake said, sweetly.

She skipped off tauntingly back to her students, leaving her colleague glaring at her.

"You got lucky this time, Lake!" he growled. "But I'll beat you next time! For now, I'll just count on your little student's failure!"

Ms. Lake walked back to the six students seated by the entrance, and received a high-five from Jaden and Chris.

"That duel was sweet, Ms. Lake!" Jaden complimented her. "Nice job!"

"Thank you!" Ms. Lake replied, smiling. "Now you kids go kick butt in your duels, and let's show Crowler that we're no pushovers!"

"Right!"

* * *

Next up, Hailey and Ken's duel. And the reason why Ken has been acting so odd will be revealed in the next chapter. Who are the opponents, and will the mismatched team prevail? Find out in the next chapter!

*I thought it'd make the chapter a bit more cooler. I couldn't decide on a song, it was between 12 Stones' We Are One, and Judas Priest's You've Got Another Thing Comin', but the former seemed to fit just right. I know this was used as the Nexus' theme, but hey, don't hate the song. Hate the bad guys who used it. That's what my grama said. I don't own either band or song.

Hailey Ryan is owned by Peach Wookiee, Luna Tenshi, and Crayus and Rakaia Meiyo are obviously owned by Rakaia The Dragon Duelist, Sega Rivera is owned by Sega herself, Will Rosen is owned by 15animefreak15, Laura is owned by Hyruleepona, Taryn and Jessi Yuki are owned by Dyusu, and finally Rose Renea is owned by maymay85985. As for my OCs, Ken, Matt, Kenneth, Chris, Bella, and Ramon, they're owned by me and my Duel Club familia, along with Tony Casimir, Ms. Erin Lake, and Underground Duelists Zero and Fang. Don't own the original series part of the plot, but I did tweak with it a bit. The main plot is owned by Kazuki Takahashi and everyone else who helped bring Yu-Gi-Oh! GX into this world. Robot Alchemic Drive is developed by Sandlot, and published by Enix, so I guess they own the game. The Meganite and Volgara cards are being posted up on Deviant Art.


	20. Mismatched, but Compatible

Ch.20- Mismatched, but Compatible-

"For our next duel in the Trial Duels, would Hailey Ryan and Ken Warren please come up stage?" the male voice spoke over the P.A. system.

Hailey looked up at Ken, whose gaze was still locked on her deck. She reached out and shook the elder female student's shoulder, alerting her. Ken looked up at her, and realized that they were on. She followed Hailey over to the dueling stage, as their friends cheered them on.

"Kick their butts, guys!" shouted Chris.

"Show no fear!" Rakaia agreed, pumping his fist in the air.

Up in the bleachers, Bastion looked down at his two friends.

"Who do you suppose they'll be dueling?" he asked anyone in particular.

"Whoever it is, I doubt they'll be as mismatched as Ken and Hailey." replied Alexis. "Ken duels with a deck made for her Meganites and Volgara cards, and Hailey uses a deck specifically made for Fairy and LIGHT attribute monsters, they're going to have a hard time combining their decks in this duel."

"Ken did fine when she and Rakaia dueled those two Underground Duelists." Ramon pointed out.

"Yeah, they kicked butt!" Laura agreed, looking around at her friends. "Rakaia and Ken brought out this super cool combo, and used their monsters effects against them. I believe that these two will do just fine."

Several feet away from them, Chumley pumped his fist in the air, shouting at the two Obelisk females.

"You've got this, Hailey!" he cheered. "Give 'em heck, Ken!"

Below him, standing in the doorway were several duel spirits, Rakaia's Red Eyes Black Dragon, Rose's Buster Blader, Jaden's Winged Kuriboh, and Ken's Meganites.

"Do you think they'll be alright?" asked Buster Blader.

"'Course they will!" replied Laguiole. "Have faith in them, Blade!"

The Winged Kuriboh nodded and hooted in agreement, as the group continued to watch. Then Vavel looked to see a man approach them, until he stood next to Valdor. He was a tall man who was just a little bit shorter than the Buster Blader, with short, disheveled hair, with a pair of sunglasses in front of his eyes. He wore a heavy red coat with blue trims, and his black striped pants and boots were all that were visible beneath the jacket. Everything else was concealed by the shadow of the hallway.

"You called?" the man spoke, calmly.

"Glad you decided to join us after all." spoke Vavel. "Thought you'd like to learn how this all worked by watching it up close and personal."

"You call watching a battle from the safety of the shadows 'up close and personal'?"

"...Look, just watch the duel so you know how this all works, okay?"

The man merely grunted and faced the arena. He glanced at Hailey and Ken, then adressed the other duel spirits.

"So, which one is it?" asked the man.

"The one with the short-sleeved blue jacket." replied Laguiole. "The other one is Hailey, she can see Duel Spirits, too. Rakaia is Red Eyes' partner, and Buster Blader here is Rose's."

"And the one with the big eyes?"

"Jaden Yuki's. He's a very great duelist." explained Red Eyes Black Dragon. "This is Winged Kuriboh."

The mysterious man nodded once again.

"You'll be seeing the rest of them our partners in time." Buster Blader told him. "For now, it's just Hailey and Ken dueling right now."

The Duel Spirits and their mysterious friend watched as Hailey and Ken walked onto the stage, and stood on their side of the field, with their dueldisks ready. Dr. Crowler walked onto the stage, with a microphone in his hand.

"Now, give it up for our first guest tag team duelists!" he announced, gesturing at the other doorway.

The students looked at it, and gasped at the duo that emerged from the doorway. One was a short boy with a pale green hair in the style of a bowlcut and his blue eyes were hidden behind a round pair of golden horn-rimmed glasses with the bridge of the specs looking like a beetle. He was dressed in a green jacket with a black beetle insignia on the front, a pair of black shorts, and green and black sneakers with shoelaces that resembled the wings of a bug. Beside him was another boy with long brown hair with purple strands poking out from under a red beanie cap. He wore a green jacket over a yellow shirt, and tan pants with white and blue sneakers. Both made their way onto the stage, ready to begin the duel.

"That's Rex Raptor!" gasped Jaden.

"And Weevil Underwood!" Rakaia added, just as surprised. "Wow, this oughta be interesting!"

"Isn't Weevil a cheater though?" asked Chris.

"I doubt the Academy would let him on the grounds if they weren't going to keep an eye on him, Chris." Ms. Lake reassured him.

"Good luck, guys." Syrus whispered, looking at his two friends on the field.

The two teams came together in the center of the stage, and Rex extended a hand for his opponents to shake, with Ken being the one to take it. The two of them gripped each other's hands tightly, and fiercely smiled at one another, before letting go. The two teams separated once more to their opposing sides of the field, and Hailey looked up at Ken, her eyes full of worry. Ken looked down at her out of the corner of her eyes for a moment, then looked up again.

"Hey, amiga," the tomboyish punk muttered to her. "You think they're goin' easy on us here? I've no problem with Rex Raptor, but Weevil's a cheating chump."

"I know, just keep cool, and stay focused." Hailey told her, quietly. "We can't afford to make any errors here."

"Huh, I thought that's what a human being was all about."

The two duelists separated, with Hailey going to take her place on her side of the field again, while Ken on her way back to her own side. She looked down at her deck which was in her dueldisk, and frowned. The two teams were now in their places, and the lifepoint meters shot up to 8000 now.

"Let's duel!" the four duelists shouted.

The duel was kicked off by Hailey, who started her turn by drawing a card from her deck.

"Okay, why don't we start off small?" she called, holding up one of the cards from her hand. "Like my Watapon in Defense Mode!"

A very fluffy pink creature with equally fluffy antennas and big blue eyes appeared onto the field with a cheerful squeak. It had 300 DEF. Hailey then placed another card into her dueldisk, and a Spell Card appeared behind the little monster.

"Next, I activate Court of Justice," she continued. "I can only use this when I have a Level 1 Fairy-type monster on the field, and Watapon fits that bill. So now I play Command Angel in Defense!"

A flash of golden light appeared from her Continuous Spell card, and a woman dressed in military clothing leapt out of it and flipped out onto the field. The woman landed gracefully onto the field beside Watapon, and her white feathered wings shot out behind her before she knelt down in a guarding position. She had 1900 DEF.

"Whoa, when'd they make Cammy White into a card?" asked Chris.

"I know, right?" laughed Rakaia.

Ms. Lake, Jaden, and Syrus continued to watch the duel, ignoring the conversation between the two boys.

"Are you done yet?" asked Weevil.

"Hold your horses," replied Hailey. "I've still got one more card to play."

She then raised her arm a little, and the Field Spell card slot opened up in her dueldisk. The moment she placed a card into it, a bright light shone from the dueldisk, and clouds began flooding into the arena. Then, a large stone temple emerged from the ground on the duelists' right.

"Sanctuary in the Sky already?" mused Ms. Lake. "Seems Hailey's playing it safe and building up defense."

"Which might mean Ken's swinging out the heavy hitters after all." said Jaden.

"Alright, Weevil, I end my turn." Hailey called out to her opponent. "Happy now?"

"Sure, I am." Weevil replied, drawing his card. "In fact, I'm so happy, I'm going to give you and your friend there a little present."

He placed a card down onto the field in facedown Defense Mode, much to the surprise of the two Academy students they were dueling. Hailey looked up at Ken, who shrugged at her. Then they looked back at Weevil who was now laughing.

"Oh, God, now what?" asked Ken.

"Yeah, what's the joke?" Hailey chimed in.

"The joke?" repeated Weevil. "You're about to find out!"

He held up another card, and a hologram of it appeared onto the field for all to see.

"A Book of Taiyou card?" observed Bella.

"But why would he play that when he's the only one with a facedown monster?" asked Will.

Kenneth thought about it for a moment, then his eyes widened a little.

"I think I have an idea." he spoke, his eyes wide in realization. "I have a feeling that our friends are going to be even more mismatched than ever."

"What makes you say that?" asked Taryn.

The facedown monster in front of Weevil flipped face-up and a mutated green and red bug creature emerged from the card, writhing and wriggling around. The audience, as well as Ken and Hailey, all grimaced at the sight of the monster.

"Disgusting." scowled Bastion.

"Ew, where's the bug spray?" asked Jessi.

Meanwhile, over with the Duel Spirits, the Winged Kuriboh began freaking out at the sight of the odd-looking monster, then ducked behind the Buster Blader.

"Please, Rakaia's older brother has creepier looking junk in his room." scoffed the Red Eyes Black Dragon.

"Really?" asked Buster Blader.

"No, it just sounded a little reassuring to me."

The rest of the group just sweatdropped at him. Above him, Chumley facefaulted at the new monster on the field.

"I suddenly like the roaches at the Slifer Dorm a little more now." he grumbled to himself.

Back in the duel, Weevil pushed his glasses up on his nose a little, snickering at his opponents.

"Isn't my insect beautiful?" he asked, smiling at his monster.

"Well, beauty is in the eye of the beholder." Hailey replied, shrugging.

"Sorry, I'm kinda not much of a bug person." Ken responded, rubbing the back of her head.

Upon hearing that, the bug lunged at her.

"I regret nothing." Ken stated, calmly.

The bug latched itself onto her deck, and wriggled it's way inside.

"Hey! Get out of there!" the Meganite duelist yelped, glaring at it. "I've got no room for Insects!"

"On the contrary, now you do!" said Weevil. "That card my Book of Taiyou just flipped up was my Parasite Paracide, and when it's flipped, my precious little bug goes into your deck and infects all of your monsters. When you draw my Parasite though, the infection will become so bad, all of your monsters and your partner's as well will become Insects also!"

Ken and Hailey looked at one another as Weevil began laughing his head off, then the two turned back to look at him.

"Okay, so we'll just beat you guys before I draw it." Ken replied, shrugging.

"You won't even have the chance to draw it!" declared Weevil. "Because I'm making you bring it out right now!"

He placed another Spell card into his Spell and Trap card slot, and Ken's deck began to glow again. The little tentacles began shooting out of the deck slot again, as Ken held her arm away from herself.

"Hailey, I need some assistance!" yelped Ken.

"I'm not touching that thing." Hailey told her, raising her hands in a defensive gesture.

The Parasite Paracide then emerged fully out of the deck slot and jumped onto the field with 300 DEF.

"Allow me to introduce my little friend here, the Reckless Parasite Spell card," Weevil explained, smiling still. "It makes you bring out the Parasite from your deck, and play it on the field. And as I said, the moment you play a monster after this, they become infected!"

"Kid, you're starting to creep me out." said Ken.

"Don't feel bad, he creeps everyone out." Rex sighed, shaking his head.

Weevil ignored them and looked over his hand, then took out a card, and placed it into his Spell and Trap card slot, then a pale green barrier rose up over Hailey and Ken's side of the field.

"Hey, what gives?" asked Hailey.

"Oh, don't fret, my dear," Weevil replied, wagging a finger at her. "It's just the Insect Barrier keeping you locked in so you don't attack us."

_"Just great. This combo just made most of my strategies useless, including my Field Spell card."_ Hailey thought, looking at her side of the field. _"Ken, I hope you've got a plan up your sleeve."_

She looked over at Ken, who drew a card from her deck to kick off her turn.

"My turn!" she declared. "And I think I'll play something new! Like my Battle Mech Fusion* Spell card!"

"'Battle Mech Fusion'?" repeated Jaden.

"It's basically a Polymerization card for Machine monsters." explained Ms. Lake.

"Huh, go figure."

"I fuse my Volgara Harrier and Volgara Harrier #2 to create the Volgara Cyclone Harrier!" announced Ken.

The two Volgara giants from her hand appeared onto the field and began circling around the arena in midair, then disappeared in a massive storm cloud over head. Then lightning flashed in the cloud, and a new monster dropped down from overhead the duelists. He resembled the Volgara Harrier #2, but with blades on his hands, and he knelt down onto the field before Ken with his arms crossed over his chest. The Cyclone Harrier had 2500 DEF pts..

"Impressive monster, but it won't save itself from the Parasite's effect!" said Weevil.

Ken and Hailey watched as the Parasite Paracide's tentacles shot into the Volgara giant and began infecting it.

"Hey, come on, we're in a school full of minors here!" Ms. Lake called out to the duelists.

"I'm not a miner, I'm a student." Jaden stated, looking up at her.

Ms. Lake fell over the side of her seat as Jaden looked at her, confused. Syrus, Rakaia, and Chris, in turn, rounded on their friend.

"Jay, she meant 'minors' as in 'young people'." Chris explained to his friend. "Not 'miners' as in the people who go into mines looking for gold and stuff."

"Oh." said Jaden.

"Knucklehead." muttered Syrus.

Inside the hallway, the Duel Spirits sweatdropped, feeling very uncomfortable at the sight of the tentacles spewing out of the Volgara Cyclone Harrier.

"That's it, I'm gonna have nightmares after this." groaned Red Eyes Black Dragon.

Back on the dueling field, Ken looked over her hand for a strategy, but could not find one.

_"Well, since Hailey can't bring anymore Fairies out onto the field for a while, I'll have to build up our defenses until we get something worked out." _she thought, taking one card from her hand.

"Alright, time for a little Field Spell action." said Ken.

She opened the tray where Field Spells were placed, and put her card inside it. Then the area began to change into a dirt field with mountains and odd cylinder-like towers surrounding the duelists. Lightning bolts flashed through the sky, and thunder rumbled ominously in the air.

"What is this place?" asked Rex.

"Mt. Chihaya, after the Volgara set up a city in it." explained Ken. "While this is in play, all Volgara receive an extra 500 ATK and DEF pt. boost. It doesn't matter what type they are."

She then placed a card in the Spell and Trap card slot, which then appeared behind the fused Volgara.

"I end my turn with a facedown card." she finished.

Up in the bleachers, Bastion and the others stared down at the duel with intense gazes. Rose reached up and wiped the sweat from her forehead, as she breathed a sigh.

"This is going to be a hard combo to work their way out of." said Bastion. "Weevil's got it so Hailey can't use her strategies, and Ken can't make any attacks."

"And after bringing that big guy out, too." agreed Sega. "This bites so much."

"Have faith, guys." Will told her friends. "They'll figure something out."

"It's my turn now!" Rex shouted, drawing his card. "I draw!"

He looked at the card he drew and smiled, then he took two other cards from his hand and held all three up.

"Now it's my turn to bring out a Fusion monster!" the dino duelist announced. "I activate Polymerization to fuse my Crawling Dragon #2 and my Two-Headed King Rex to make my Bracchio-Radius!"

The three cards disappeared as a two headed reptilian monster and what looked like a cross between a dragon and a dinosaur leapt into the air, and disappeared into an invisible vortex. Emerging from it was a massive blue bracchiosaurus. It had 2200 ATK.

"Wicked." Ken said, with a nod.

"And there's more, because I have the Spell card Dino Blast in my hand," Rex continued, holding up another card. "And I'm raring to play it! While I have a Dinosaur out on the field, I deal damage to you. 300 pts. times the Dinosaur's level."

"Dino dude says what now?"

The Bracchio-Radius gave a roar and shot an emerald green blast from it's mouth, and the blast struck Ken. Ken raised her arms in front of her face to shield herself before it hit as the lifepoint meter dropped from 8000 to 6200.

"Next I'll place two cards facedown, and that's all for me." said Rex.

Two set cards appeared behind the Bracchio-Radius, and that signaled for Hailey to begin her turn. She drew a card from her deck, and looked down at it.

_"Now this I can work with!"_ the fairy duelist thought, smiling. _"Weevil, your Parasite might be able to change our monsters' types, but they can't change their attributes!"_

"I summon the Fairy Archer to the field in Attack Mode!" she said, placing the card on her dueldisk.

The pixie-like creature flew into the air and landed beside her allies. Then Hailey took another card from her hand and placed it onto her dueldisk.

"Then I use my Court of Justice's effect once again to further strengthen our defenses by Special Summoning the monster Gellenduo to the field in Defense!" she continued.

A pair of little blue-eyed creatures with matching halos encircling their waists appeared onto the field in a flash of light. One was a green creature with a bulb-shaped head and a mop of purple hair tied back, the other other was a pink monster with a heart-shaped head and two pigtails. This monster had 0 DEF. The Parasite Paracide them shot its tentacles at the Gellenduo and infected it with the Parasite virus, with a now pale-faced Hailey watching.

"You're taking the cuteness out of my monsters." she groaned.

"Well that's life, so deal with it." said Weevil. "All monsters that are played after this are turned into bugs."

"Wonderful, but that doesn't stop me from activating my Archer's special ability."

Weevil watched as the Fairy Archer materialized an arrow in her hand, and placed it against her bow. Fairy Archer pulled back on the arrow and awaited Hailey's command.

"Fire one!" shouted Hailey.

The first arrow fired and struck Weevil in the forehead, knocking him off his feet. Ken found herself snickering at the sight of their opponent dazed from the attack.

"Nice shot." she spoke, chuckling.

Weevil sat up, dizzily, as the Fairy Archer prepared a second arrow into her bow.

"Fire two!" Hailey called, lowering her arm towards Weevil.

The second arrow struck the bug duelist in the forehead again, and knocked him on his back again. Now Rex was beginning to laugh with Ken, while Weevil shot to his feet to glare at his partner.

"Just what do you think is so funny, Rex?!" he demanded.

"Fire three!" Hailey's voice shouted.

An arrow fired again, this time, hitting Weevil in the butt, now lowering his and Rex's life points to 6800. Weevil yelled and grabbed onto his buttocks, then fell over the side of the stage. Ken and Rex then fell on their own backs, howling with laughter. Up in the bleachers, the other students were watching the battle with bemused expressions.

"Ah, so even Hailey's got a dark side to her." observed Alexis.

"Well, it's what Weevil gets." said Bella. "And the best part is, I got it all on film."

The others looked at her to see that she had recorded the whole thing with her cell phone.

"You're gonna upload that to YouTube aren't you?" asked Bastion.

"Oh, yes." Bella replied with a devious smile. "I see a million hits in it's future, too."

Meanwhile, inside the hallway, Red Eyes Black Dragon, Gllang, and Valdor were cracking up laughing as well.

"Did you see all that?!" asked Gllang. "Everytime he got up after the arrow hit him, he just got knocked down again!"

"Ah, that was priceless!" responded the Red Eyes Black Dragon.

Hailey smirked at her opponent, fully satisfied that she and her friends taught him a lesson.

"Maybe next time, your little monster will keep it's appendages to itself!" the fairy duelist scolded her opponent.

Weevil sat up, and glared at her, angrily, then rounded on Rex, who along with Ken had finally calmed down a little, and were back on their feet.

"Are you quite done yet?!" he demanded.

"Yeah, okay, I'm done now." replied Rex.

"Good, now are you done?!" Weevil asked, turning back to Hailey.

"Yeah, just about." Hailey answered, smiling innocently.

"Not before I activate my Trap card!" Rex called.

One of his facedown cards flipped face-up, and revealed to be a Trap.

"Uh-oh, that can't be good." Jaden said, rising out of his seat.

"As a matter of fact, it isn't." agreed Rex. "Final Attack Orders forces all monsters on the field into Attack Mode, and they can't change their battle modes."

Hailey gasped and watched as all of the monsters on her and Ken's side of the field stood up straight, going from Defense Mode to Attack.

_"Ken, you better do something fast on your next turn!"_ she thought, looking over at Ken. _"Otherwise, we're going to lose!"_

"And now it's my turn!" announced Weevil.

He drew a card from his deck, and smiled, as he held it up.

"I activate my Level Down Spell card!" he said. "If I have a monster with 'LV' in it's name, I can downgrade it by two levels. And I just happen to have a LV 5 monster in my hand."

"Ah, cripes." groaned Ken.

"Second it." agreed Hailey.

"I summon my Ultimate Insect LV 5, Attack Mode!" cried Weevil.

A giant blue-silver insect with six legs and spikes around it's body appeared onto the field, chattering furiously at it's enemies. It had 2300 ATK. The sight of it was enough to scare Watapon and Fairy Archer, who squeaked and shivered at the sight of the monster.

"They have the right to be afraid, because my Ultimate Insect is about to devour one of your monsters." said Weevil. "And I think your Watapon there will make a decent snack!"

Watapon shivered even more as it hid behind the Fairy Archer.

"Hey, pick on someone your own IQ, bug boy!" Ken snapped, shaking her fist at him.

"Oh, don't worry, I look forward to dismantling your stupid action figure next!" declared Weevil. "Ultimate Insect, it's dinner time! Enjoy your meal!"

The Ultimate Insect flew towards Hailey's side of the field, as the Watapon tried in vain to escape, but was picked up by the bigger insect and eaten alive. Hailey's hands flew over her mouth, a bit sad upon seeing the adorable, fluffy monster brutally destroyed by the bug. Her's and Ken's life points dropped down to 2100, then suddenly the Gellenduo monsters self-destructed, surprising most of the audience.

"What happened to the Gellenduo?" asked Syrus.

"Whenever Gellenduo's owner takes damage, any kind at all, it's destroyed." replied Rakaia.

"Aw, man."

"Don't worry, Weevil will have a hard time trying to get past Ken's Cyclone Harrier. With 3000 ATK, that Ultimate Insect doesn't stand a chance."

Weevil snickered to himself, proud of his move, and slipped a card into the Spell and Trap card slot, causing a set card to appear behind his monster.

"I end my turn." he said. "So, tell me, do you feel like giving up yet? My bugs and I have you trapped. You can't attack, you can't defend, it's hopeless."

Ken didn't respond, and simply drew her card from her deck.

"What? No quip?" asked Weevil. "No choice words from the big, bad Mech duelist?"

Ken slowly looked up at him, scowling actually, and simply placed the card she drew in her hand, then held up another card. A second later, the Parasite Paracide monster disintegrated from the bottom up in a shower of golden pixels.

"Yeah, I've got a few choice words for you!" she replied, placing it down on her dueldisk. "I sacrifice your bug and summon the Volgara Centurion in Attack Mode!"

The golden pixels reformed to create a thin-looking purple, silver, and bronze robot with spiky shoulder blades, and a claws for hands. On her back were a pair of metallic wings which were folded up. This monster had 2000 ATK, but with an extra 500 because of the Field Spell.

"Big deal." growled Weevil.

"You don't know much about my pals, do you?" asked Ken. "Well, once per turn, she can destroy a Spell or Trap that you guys control. Like that Insect Barrier of yours."

Weevil gasped in shock, and watched as the Volgara Centurion roared, then her wings unfolded.

"Go, Feather Spread Shred!" shouted Ken.

The Volgara giant flapped it's wings once, and a gust of wind kicked up, which then shattered the Insect Barrier surrounding Hailey and Ken, as well as their monsters.

"Oh, no!" screamed Weevil.

"You had this comin', dude!" shouted Ken, who was holding up another card. "Now, let's move this along! I play Pot of Greed, which allows me to draw two cards from my deck!"

She discarded her card, and drew two cards from her deck. Then she placed them into her Spell and Trap card slots, causing two set cards to appear behind her Volgara monsters.

"Now I place them facedown, and attack your Bracchio-Radius with my Cyclone Harrier!" Ken continued, thrusting her hand forward. "Waist Spin Hook Barrage!"

The Cyclone Harrier's torso began spinning around rapidly, with his arms extended outward, and then he began walking towards Rex's Bracchio-Radius.

"No you don't!" shouted Rex. "I play my other facedown, De-Fusion!"

With that, his facedown card flipped up and a light shone from it, blanketing the Bracchio-Radius. The large dinosaur then glowed brightly and de-fused into the Crawling Dragon #2 and Two-Headed King Rex. Both monsters had 1600 ATK.

"Hah, so much for your attack!" laughed Rex.

But to his surprise, the Volgara Cyclone Harrier was still advancing on him.

"Hey, your attack's been cancelled!" the dino duelist shouted. "Call him off!"

"What's going on?" asked Dr. Crowler.

"Stop moving, you stupid robot!" yelled Chazz.

"Cyclone Harrier has a special ability," explained Ken. "You see, it's forced to attack all monsters you guys have out on the field. And it won't stop until your monsters are all gone. Consider it payback for what your buddy did to Watapon."

Rex watched as his Two-Headed King Rex was the first to fall, and his and Weevil's life points dropped to 5400. Then the Cyclone Harrier advanced on the Crawling Dragon #2, which was pummeled and finally destroyed. Rex raised his arms to shield himself from the blast, as their life points dropped to 4000.

"That's one heck of a monster." Rex admitted, lowering his arms.

"If you think he's tough, wait 'til you meet the Meganite." said Ken. "Now Cyclone Harrier, destroy Weevil's Ultimate Insect and avenge Watapon!"

The Cyclone Harrier grunted and began advancing on the Ultimate Insect LV 5. Weevil's glasses flashed, and a grin crossed his face, then his facedown card flipped up. The card began to glow with a bright white aura, which then caused the Cyclone Harrier to groan and finally explode into millions of pieces. Ken raised her arms to protect herself from the blast, as a wind kicked up around the field.

"Cyclone!" yelled Ken. "What'd you do to him?!"

"I used my Offerings of the Doomed Spell card to destroy it." Weevil replied, calmly. "Didn't your mother teach you that if you didn't want your toys smashed up, to keep them put away where they belonged?"

"And didn't your mama teach you to play nice like all the other good little boys?"

"I'm twenty five, you moron!"

Ken and Hailey stared at him in shock, then looked at one another.

"'Twenty five'?" repeated Hailey.

"That explains a whole lot now." commented Ken.

Over with their friends by the doorway leading out of the arena, Jaden and the others exchanged mystified glances also.

"I thought he was like, I don't know, in his late teens or something." admitted Chris.

"I thought he was still ten." said Rakaia.

"I think I just got a glimpse of my future." Syrus muttered, sadly.

"Sy, I bet you'll grow taller than he ever will." Jaden told him.

In the hallway nearby them, the Duel Spirits stared at the insect duelist on the stage in shock.

"That kid's a full-grown adult?" asked the mysterious man. "Guess he didn't eat all of his vegetables when he was growing up."

Rex glared at his partner, and started to shout.

"Hey, you do realize that I'll be the one skipping my Draw Phase, right?!" he ranted. "I may as well skip my turn!"

"That's what you get for laughing at me!" responded Weevil.

"Hey, I've been meaning to ask, how do we get rid of these infections on our monsters?" asked Ken.

Rex looked at her, then folded his arms across his chest, as if trying to remember.

"Oh, they're like Equip Spells," replied the dino duelist. "You just have to destroy them with cards that affect Spell cards."

"Idiot!" shouted Weevil. "Don't tell her that!"

"Well, it's not like she can do anything right now! Her monster's effect's already been used this turn!"

"Actually, I can get rid of them right now." Ken announced, grinning. "It's like this, I got so irritated with people stealing my monsters in duels lately that I added a card to put a stop to it. And I've got a card right here that can eliminate all of the Parasite's infections!"

Her facedown card flipped face-up, and revealed itself to be a Trap card.

"What's that?!" yelped Rex.

"The Trap card Purging Destron*, I can remove all cards equipped to our monsters, like those infections for instance." replied Ken. "Thanks for the heads up, amigo."

The Trap card began to glow, and a mist flowed from it, then washed over the monsters infected by the Parasite's effect. Weevil growled angrily at Ken as her Trap card disappeared, then glared at his partner.

"I hate you." he snarled.

"The feeling is mutual, believe me." shrugged Rex. "Okay, I'm going to skip my turn since I can't do anything." he added turning to Hailey.

Hailey nodded, and began her turn by drawing a card from her deck. Then she put it in her hand, and took out another card.

"I summon the Forgiving Maiden!" she declared.

After placing it onto her dueldisk, a woman dressed in a white and blue nun's outfit appeared onto the field with 850 ATK. Then the Fairy Archer loaded up her bow again with an arrow, much to Weevil's displeasure.

"Not again!" he yelped.

The Fairy Archer fired twice at him, and Weevil had to dodge the first one quickly to avoid being hit. However, the second one struck him in the forehead, knocking him onto his back as his life points dropped to 3200.

"I love karma." Ken said, smiling.

Weevil then got back up, his forehead now bright red, as well as his cheeks.

"You think you're funny?!" he demanded.

"As a matter of fact, yes." replied Hailey. "Though you've done a good job of making a fool of yourself all on your own."

This really got Weevil's blood boiling as his glare intensified. He drew his card, and his glasses glinted in the light of the room. The three other duelists on the stage heard him chuckling, and stared at him.

"Now's the time to level up my Insect." he snickered. "I send him to the graveyard and bring out the Ultimate Insect LV 7 to the field!"

Hailey, Ken, and Rex watched as the Ultimate Insect LV 5 began to glow, then change in shape until it turned into a mutated blue and red wasp with three rows of tiny spikes going from it's head down it's back. The new monster had 2600 ATK.

"Okay, smashing it the first chance I get." Ken declared, calmly.

"Oh, that'll be hard to do." laughed Weevil.

Ken stared at him in confusion for a moment, then saw her Volgara Centurion looking a bit weak.

"Centurion!" she gasped.

Then she saw Hailey staring in shock as her own monsters looked as drained of power as Superman would from the effects of kryptonite.

"What's going on?" asked Ken.

"My Ultimate Insect has a special ability, too," replied Weevil. "It drains all monsters you guys have of their ATK by 700 pts.. Not even your Cyclone Harrier would've been a match for my beautiful creature if it were still alive. Now, it's time to deal a ton of damage to you two!"

The Ultimate Insect chattered at its foes before it's back opened up, revealing four nearly transparent wings, and flew into the air over Hailey's side of the field.

"Forgive me, Forgiving Maiden, but it's time that you became dinner for my Insect!" cackled Weevil.

Hailey looked away as her Forgiving Maiden was devoured by the Ultimate Insect, and her life points dropped down to 2050.

"I'll end my turn with a facedown card." Weevil said, placing a card into his Spell and Trap card slot.

Ken scoffed, and drew a card from her deck.

"My turn now!" she said.

"And with that, I activate my facedown card!" announced Weevil. "Go, Mystical Space Typhoon!"

His set card flipped up, and a storm broke out around the four players. Ken looked to see that her Field Spell slot was open and her card vanished before the slot closed up again.

"Feeling scared and hopeless yet?" asked Weevil.

Ken looked from him, to Hailey, to Rex, then back to Weevil with a calm smile. Then she held up her right hand.

"Terrified." she answered, smiling.

A card then materialized into her hand, much to Weevil's dread.

"What's that?" the insect duelist asked.

Ken just merely responded to his question with a grin. Then the others realized that all but the storm clouds had vanished, and now a fog was rolling into the arena. The audience leaned out of their seats or stood up so they could get a better look at what was to come.

"He's done it now." said Bella.

"What do you mean?" asked Alexis.

"Yeah, what card does she have right there?" Luna piped up.

"You'll see." replied Matt.

Chumley himself was staring intensely down at the field, his hands gripping the railing.

"What did he do?" he wondered aloud.

Below him, the Duel Spirits were anticipating what was about to come next. The Meganites pressed back against the wall to allow their comrades to watch closely what was going to happen.

"When you took out my Field Spell, you triggered it's secondary effect." replied Ken. "I get to add my ultimate Volgara creature from my deck to my hand. And now I'll play him."

Three cards then slid out of Ken's graveyard slot, and then disappeared in a golden light. After the cards returned to her deck, the deck shuffled rapidly in the deck slot, and then lightning crashed through the skies, as thunder rumbled ominously within the clouds.

"The ultimate Volgara." breathed Rakaia. "Must be something big."

"It is." replied Chris. "Keep a close eye on this guy, Rakaia. This is a card that you'll be nagging her to give you for a while."

"I return three cards from my grave to my deck in order to bring out one of the toughest dudes you guys will ever face!" declared Ken.

The audience watched as a massive creature dropped down from the ceiling, and crashed onto the ground. A low, vicious growl escaped from the beast's lips as its reptilian eyes narrowed down onto Weevil.

"What is that?!" gasped Rex.

"J-Just another one of her stupid robots!" snapped Weevil.

However, he soon found that it wasn't another machine monster. A huge bolt of lightning crashed, illuminating the giant monster. Jaden, Syrus, Chris, and Ms. Lake looked up to see Rakaia was slowly breaking out into an excited grin. Chris had been right after all. Back on the stage, Ken gave a fierce grin herself.

"Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for one of the most powerful creatures in my deck,...Dantarion the Ultimate Invader!" she shouted.

The fog cleared away, revealing a Godzilla-like creature with spikes on his head, shoulders, and down his back emerged onto the field. It gave a mighty roar as it glared down at Weevil, who understandably began shaking. It's ATK remained undetermined.

"That's Dantarion?!" asked Bastion.

"He's huge!" gasped Rose.

"And he's really tough, too." Bella told them. "Those guys are in for it now."

Down in the bleachers, Dr. Crowler began sweating at the sight of Ken's new monster.

_"Oh, no! Not that thing!" _he thought, panicking. _"If that overgrown lizard is as tough as that brat's robots, they'll win this duel for sure!"_

Back over with Ken, she glanced up at her monster, a serious scowl on her face.

_"Alright, buddy," _she spoke inwardly. _"This is it. I played Gllang, I played Laguiole, I even brought out Vavel and Valdor, and now it's your turn. After this, it's goodbye."_

Flashback- A few days ago- Chancellor Sheppard's office-

_"'Give up my cards'?" Ken repeated, shocked._

_"Just for a little while," Chancellor Sheppard reassured her. "Mr. Pegasus received a fax from the people who made the Robot Alchemic Drive game, they say that more people have been buying the game since you've been dueling with them. In fact, their publishers were so delighted that they asked him to make more decks based off of other games produced by the company."_

_"But why does he need my cards?"_

_"Because he wants to make new cards for the RAD series."_

_Ken looked down at her deck, hesitantly. Chancellor Sheppard saw this, and frowned, knowing that duelists were usually attached to their decks. So this was asking a lot from his student._

_"I'll give you a couple of days to think about it." he spoke at last. "Would you give Mr. Pegasus that much?"_

_"...Yes, sir." replied Ken._

End Flashback-

Ken clenched one fist tightly, as her bengs overshadowed her eyes.

_"Dantarion, let's win this!" _she thought, bravely. _"When this duel's over, you guys are gonna leave, and I don't know when you'll come back. But when you do,...we're gonna blow them away!"_

Hailey looked over at Ken, and frowned.

"Hang tough, Ken." she whispered.

Her tag partner opened her eyes once again, and looked at Weevil.

"Now I activate his special ability!" she said. "Dantarion gains ATK and DEF pts. equal to the number of cards I returned to the deck with his effect!"

As she said this, Dantarion's ATK rose to 3000, then dropped down to 2100.

"You seem to forget that my Insect's effect is in play!" Weevil reminded her with a cackle. "Your stupid lizard's too weak to even scratch it!"

"Not when I play this!" Ken shot back, holding up a card. "I equip my Dantarion with the Volgara Battle Armor 2.0 Spell card!"

Dantarion's ATK rose from 2100 to 2600 as armor similar to the Volgara Harrier's torso covered the kaiju's body.

"It'll end in a draw if they battle now." Jaden pointed out.

"Exactly." said Ken. "Dantarion, attack the Ultimate Insect with Headbutt Charge!"

Dantarion roared once more, and lowered his head, then charged at the Ultimate Insect, and tackled into it, destroying it. A cloud of smoke formed from the massive explosion, causing Hailey, Rex, and Weevil to look away. When the smoke cleared away, the three of them, as well as the audience were surprised to see that Dantarion was still on the field.

"But how?!" asked Hailey.

"Why is that monster still alive?" agreed Weevil.

"It's because Dantarion can't be destroyed once per turn." replied Ken. "And now since that bug's been terminated, all our monsters' ATK return to normal, which is good because Centurion's been feeling a little left out."

The Volgara Centurion turned towards Weevil, and aimed a fist at him, as her ATK went back up to 2000.

"Volgara Assault Knuckle!" shouted Ken.

The fist ejected from Centurion's wrist, and launched at Weevil.

"Mommy!" Weevil cried.

He was knocked off of his feet by the attack, and fell on his back as the fist sailed into the air, then returned to the Centurion's arm, locking back into place. Weevil and Rex's life points then dropped by another 2000, leaving them with 1200.

"Nice move, Ken." said Hailey.

"Thanks." Ken replied, with a salute. "Now finish them off on your next turn, Hailey."

Rex waited for his partner to get back up before he began his turn. He drew his card and looked at Ken's Dantarion.

_"Taking down a monster with 3500 ATK won't be easy."_ he thought. _"I better do the best I can from here on out."_

"I activate my Graceful Charity!" announced Rex. "And this allows me to draw three cards from my deck, but then I have to discard two."

He drew three times, then sent the two monsters in his hand to the graveyard before holding up his last card.

"Next I activate the Pot of Greed Spell card." Rex continued, as he drew twice. "That's two cards for me."

After discarding the Pot of Greed Spell, he looked at his hand, and smiled.

"Now I play Spacetime Transcendancy," he went on, holding up another card. "Here's the deal, I removed Dinosaurs from my graveyard from play, but in order to play the monster I have in my hand, I have to make sure that the combined levels of the monsters I banish equal the one in my hand's level."

With that Twin-Headed King Rex and Crawling Dragon #2 appeared on the field for a moment, then vanished, and Rex held up his final card.

"I summon Ultimate Tyranno!" Rex shouted.

A massive spiked t-rex appeared onto the field, and glared at Dantarion. It had 3000 ATK, which was 500 pts. less than Dantarion's. Both monsters glared at one another, and started growling.

"Territorial much?" muttered Rose.

"Well, on the bright side, any monster summoned with the effect of Spacetime Transcendancy isn't allowed to attack." Bastion told his friends.

"Which means Hailey will have to be the one to end it." said Alexis.

Hailey looked up at the Ultimate Tyranno, and gulped.

_"This is it."_ she thought. _"It's all on me."_

She drew from her deck, and looked at the card she drew.

"Just what I needed." the fairy duelist grinned. "I summon Protective Soul Ailin!"

A child-like angel appeared onto the field and flew next to the Fairy Archer. This monster had no ATK pts..

"And since he's a Level 1 Fairy, I can use my Court of Justice to bring out another monster from my hand," announced Hailey. "So I summon the Shining Angel in Attack Mode!"

Another golden ray of light shot out from her Spell card, and the male angel flew out of it, and landed on Ailin's left.

"Uh-oh!" gulped Weevil.

"'Uh-oh' is right!" said Hailey. "Because I use my Fairy Archer's special ability once more! Now I can deal 1200 pts. of damage to you guys, and that's all you have!"

Weevil backed away from her as the Fairy Archer loaded up her bow with three gem-tipped arrows once again, and when he turned to flee, the arrows struck him in the butt, the back, and his head. Weevil slumped down to the floor, dazed, as his and Rex's life points hit 0. The audience began to cheer once again, as the holograms vanished.

"Way to go, girls!" cheered Jaden.

"Yeah, nice work!" agreed Rakaia.

Hailey smiled at them, then turned to look at Ken. Her smile faded when she saw Ken looking down at her deck, a sad smile on her face.

_"Thank you, my friends."_ Ken thought, with a laugh. _"We couldn't have won without you guys, and Hailey's team working together."_

"Ken?" Hailey called out to her.

Ken looked up to see Hailey standing beside her.

"Will you be okay?" the auburn-haired Obelisk asked.

Ken merely smiled at her, and nodded.

"I'll see them again." she said. "Vavel promised me that much, and he said that change is good."

Hailey placed a hand on her shoulder, and led her away from the duel field. Ms. Lake watched her students returning towards where she and the other four were sitting, and stood up. When Ken walked over to her, she faced her, and the two shared a silent glance.

"He's waiting in the hallway." said Ms. Lake.

"Can Jaden, Hailey, and Rakaia come with?" asked Ken.

Ms. Lake hesitated for a moment, then nodded. Confused, Jaden and Rakaia rose out of their seats to follow Ken and Hailey into the hallway, and were surprised to see the Duel Spirits standing inside, along with a new face. Jaden looked up at the man in the red coat, and saw him staring back at him with a single brown eye.

_"Is he who Ms. Lake was referring to?"_ Jaden wondered to himself.

"Ms. Warren?" a familiar voice rang out.

Jaden looked up ahead in the hallway to see Chancellor Sheppard approaching them. Ken stepped forward, and the two stopped once they were a couple of feet apart from each other. Then Ken took her deck out of her dueldisk and handed it over to him, much to Jaden and Rakaia's shock.

"Ken, what are you doing?!" asked Rakaia.

"Those are your cards!" added Jaden. "You won't be able to duel without them!"

"I know." replied Ken.

"You know?!" the two Slifers repeated, surprised.

Flashback- The Previous Day-

_"So, Ken, have you made your decision?" asked Chancellor Sheppard._

_Moments after Jaden, his roommates, Rose, Mr. Huffington, and Prof. Banner left the office, the Chancellor got down to business as to why Ken was there._

_"Sir,..." Ken began, but stopped._

_Chancellor Sheppard waited for her to continue, as the hotheaded punk stood there, an uncertain look on her face._

_"Where will that leave me, if my team isn't there to back me up?" asked Ken. "I already gave all my other cards to my older sister to give to her son. I'll have no cards to play with."_

_"Not necessarily." replied the chancellor._

_Ken looked at him, confused, and Chancellor Sheppard took out a box._

_"Mr. Pegasus said he was willing to make a deal." he explained. "Because when the topic came up, you were already in trouble because of your little trip to the Abandoned Dorm. The deal is if you win your tag match, and if you agree to stay out of trouble for the remainder of your stay at this Academy, he's agreed to let you use these."_

_Ken looked to the side, wondering if by accepting this deal, she would be betraying her own allies. Then a voice called out to her._

_"It's alright." Vavel's voice spoke. "Who knows? The creator might give us even more upgrades."_

_"Yeah, we could always use some more new friends!" Volgara Laborer shouted in agreement._

"Alright, if you guys say so." _Ken sent back, breathing a defeated sigh._

_"I accept, sir, but let me duel with these guys in the tag match." she said, looking back up at the chancellor. "If that day will be my last at the Academy, I want them to be the last deck I play with here."_

_Chancellor Sheppard nodded in understanding._

_"Then we have a deal." he agreed._

_The two shook their hands on it._

End Flashback-

"You mean you're just going to give up your team?" repeated Jaden.

"They'll be coming back, Jaden." Chancellor Sheppard explained, looking at him. "Mr. Pegasus promised Ken that he would even entrust her with another deck, to use until he's finished."

Ken then handed him her deck case, containing her Meganite cards, then took the deck out of her dueldisk, and handed it over as well. Once the Chancellor had possession of the decks, he took the Meganite cards out of the deck case and replaced the new deck inside. Ken took it again, and replaced the deckcase onto her belt. When Chancellor Sheppard left, the Meganites turned to leave as well, but not before bidding their friends goodbye.

"You kids stay out of trouble, alright?" said Gllang.

"Do we have a choice?" asked Rakaia.

Vavel chuckled, then turned to the man in the red coat.

"Make sure they stay out of trouble." he told him. "Jaden especially. He's been attracting a bit of trouble lately."

"Hey!" complained Jaden.

"I'll do what I can." responded the mystery man.

The Meganites began to walk away also, and their Duel Spirit friends shouted after them.

"Come back soon!" said Red Eyes Black Dragon. "So I can kick your butts!"

"Safe travels!" called the Buster Blader.

"Goodbye!" Athena shouted next, waving at them.

Even the Winged Kuriboh waved goodbye to them, hooting sadly. Then Ken took her deck out of her deck case, and fanned the cards out to look at them.

"Wow." she breathed.

"Not as sweet as my Heroes," said Jaden. "but they're pretty cool too."

He had jumped on top of Ken's back to look at the cards also, his arms folded on top of her head. Then Rakaia jumped onto his back, to get a good look also.

"I wanna see!" he shouted.

Then the three collapsed onto the ground, with the cards flying up into the air. Hailey, Athena, Red Eyes Black Dragon, Buster Blader, Winged Kuriboh, and the mystery man groaned and facepalmed, shaking their heads at the trio.

* * *

So the Meganites and Volgara will not be seen or heard from for a long while, a new deck will be featured in the story, and we got a glimpse of the new Duel Spirit replacing the Meganites and the Volgara during their absence. Though that is not as important as Chris and Rakaia's duel, which is coming up next, followed by the main event: Jaden and Syrus' duel. For those who have a good idea who the man with the Duel Spirits were, no spoilers, please.

Also, the cards Volgara Battle Armor 2.0, Purging Destron, and Battle Mech Fusion are made up cards, but I've gotta hand-design them. They won't be up on Deviant Art for some time. Volgara Battle Armor 2.0 is basically just an Equip Spell card for Volgara monsters and Dantarion, and gives them a 500 pt. boost for ATK and DEF, Purging Destron is basically based off of the episode in the RAD game where you have to fight a Volgara and deal with the Destron Gas it spews out, and Battle Mech Fusion is just a card I made up for Machine Fusion monsters or rather specifically Meganite and Volgara Fusions, like Dark Fusion's for Evil Heroes.

On another note, I thought up the scene for Dantarion's summoning when I was listening to this track I found on YouTube for the Blue Eyes Shining Dragon. I thought it was perfect, because it sounded like the calm before the storm. Get it?

Hailey Ryan is owned by Peach Wookiee, Luna Tenshi, and Crayus and Rakaia Meiyo are obviously owned by Rakaia The Dragon Duelist, Sega Rivera is owned by Sega herself, Will Rosen is owned by 15animefreak15, Laura is owned by Hyruleepona, Taryn and Jessi Yuki are owned by Dyusu, and finally Rose Renea is owned by maymay85985. As for my OCs, Ken, Matt, Kenneth, Chris, Bella, and Ramon, they're owned by me and my Duel Club familia, along with Tony Casimir, Ms. Erin Lake, and Underground Duelists Zero and Fang. Don't own the original series part of the plot, but I did tweak with it a bit. The main plot is owned by Kazuki Takahashi and everyone else who helped bring Yu-Gi-Oh! GX into this world. Robot Alchemic Drive is developed by Sandlot, and published by Enix, so I guess they own the game. The Meganite and Volgara cards are being posted up on Deviant Art.

New Disclaimers: Do not own anything by Square, Enix, or even Square Enix. So, did anyone guess who the man in the red coat was?


	21. Second Chances

Ch.21- Second Chances-

Outside Obelisk Arena-

"What do you mean they won't be showing up?!" snarled Dr. Crowler.

It was intermission time, and while the students and teachers were out getting lunch, he was pacing back and forth outside of his office. A phone was firmly held to his ear, and he was screaming into the mouthpiece.

"They said they had nothing planned for today!" yelled Dr. Crowler.

"Well, I'm sorry, Mr. Crowler, but my clients are booked for a charity duel this afternoon." a male voice spoke on the other end. "I'll see to it you get your tickets refunded."

"Very well. And it's Dr. Crowler."

The Ancient Gear duelist hung up the phone, and exhaled deeply through his nose. The opponents he hired to duel Rakaia and Chris would not be arriving today, so he'd have to make due with someone else. Then something hit the doctor.

"Hmm, maybe it would be best if he dueled them." he said, smiling.

He typed away at his PDA, and sent out two messages, then took off once again. A half an hour later, everyone returned to the arena, where Rakaia, Chris, Jaden, and Syrus were all that were left to complete their duels. Even though they had completed their duels, Ms. Lake, Hailey, and Ken were still ordered to sit in the chairs with their friends. On their way back to the arena, Jaden, Rakaia, Ken, and Hailey hung back so they could talk, but then,...

"So, are the rumors true?" a new voice asked.

The group turned to see Chazz, Topher, and Conklin walking down the hall towards them. They stopped a few feet away from the others, and Chazz looked at Ken.

"Word on the street is that you finally traded in your action figures for a new deck." he sneered. "What kind did you get?"

"Nosy, ain't we?" replied Rakaia.

"He wasn't talking to you, Slifer Slime." Conklin snarled, stepping forward.

"He was talking to Juvie there." agreed Topher.

"Then it's definitely none of your business." responded Ken. "These Slifers are my friends, either treat 'em with respect, or get lost."

Immediately after she said this, the trio of Obelisk boys began laughing, causing the others to scowl at the three boys in front of them.

"They're like hyenas." said Hailey.

"No, louder." Jaden corrected her.

"Come on, guys," Rakaia called, turning around. "We've got more important things to worry about."

As they turned to leave, Conklin grabbed Ken's deck case and pulled the deck out of it.

"Hey!" yelped Ken.

She jerked herself away from him as the three Obelisk elitists began looking at her new cards.

"Look at this, the gamer geek's got another one." cackled Conklin.

"Another video game deck?" Topher observed, as he went through the cards next. "What's next, a Pokemon deck for the little dweeb?"

Hailey's eyes flashed with anger as the two boys laughed again, and she stepped forward.

"Give my friend her deck back, right now." she commanded them in a calm voice.

Chazz took the deck from Conklin and walked over to hand it back to it's owner, but then dropped them onto the floor, letting them scatter across the ground. Rose noticed that the fingers on Ken's left hand were twitching excitedly, as if they wanted to close into a fist and knock the bullies out, and moved forward in case she needed to stop a fight from happening. However, the three elitists already decided to take their leave.

"Here's your deck, dork." laughed Chazz. "Now if you'll excuse us, your friend is right, we've got bigger fish to fry."

He walked away with Topher and Conklin in tow, all three of them laughing, while Hailey and Jaden knelt down to help their friend collect her cards. They had managed to pick up all of the cards, after which Ken placed them back into her deck case.

"Ugh, if it weren't for that part of the deal where I had to stay out of trouble in order to keep this deck, I'd really let 'em have it!" growled Ken. "I never wanted to punch someone's lights out so much!"

"We'll deal with them when the time comes," said Hailey. "Rakaia, your match is starting soon. You better go get Chris."

Rakaia nodded and headed off to find his tag partner. While he did that, Jaden, Hailey, and Ken headed off into the arena.

Fifteen minutes later- Obelisk Arena-

Rakaia and Chris were already standing on the field, with their dueldisks strapped to their arms. Both were waiting patiently for their opponents to arrive, unaware that they would be dueling someone else on short notice. Chancellor Sheppard walked over to Dr. Crowler, looking a bit impatient.

"Crowler, where are the opponents for the boys?" he asked.

"Oh, they'll be down here in a moment." replied Dr. Crowler.

Up in the bleachers, a group of well-known teens were sitting and watching, waiting for their friends' duel to begin. As they waited, the sound of their friend's chuckling alerted them.

"You guys aren't going to believe how many views that last duel got." giggled Bella.

"70,000?" guessed Bastion.

"Close. 75,000."

She played the video again, at the part where Hailey's Fairy Archer attacked Weevil with the arrows, knocking him down one after the other.

"It's what Weevil gets for messing with her monsters." Will said, smiling.

"As mismatched a team as they were, I'm surprised they were able to work so well together." Bastion admitted. "Hailey provided the direct attacks, and Ken brought out the heavy hitters."

"Hey, look!" Sega called to her friends.

She and the others watched as Chazz and Rose made their way onto the field, their dueldisks attached to their arms.

"Looks like Crowler's having Rose and Chazz do battle with our friends." said Bastion.

"Oh boy." sighed Taryn.

"Hey, guys, we're back!" Jessi's voice rang out to them.

She, Laura, Kenneth, and Ramon returned to their seats, and start passing around popcorn and drinks to the others. They had left to get food and refreshments moments ago, in case of another incident similar to their friends' duel with Weevil and Rex, who were seated in the bleachers with the staff, behind Dr. Crowler, Chancellor Sheppard, Prof. Banner. Weevil was still fuming about what Hailey did to him, while Rex was trying to convince him to get over it. Easier said than done though. That aside, after taking his drink and bucket of popcorn from Laura, Matt looked up at her and the other three with her.

"What took you so long?" he asked.

Several feet away, Chumley sat on the steps, munching on his grilled cheese sandwiches.

_"I'll have to thank Jaden's cousin and her friends later."_ he mentally noted. _"I was so freaked about the Trial Duels, I forgot to eat breakfast."_

Back on the stage, Chazz looked between Chris and Rakaia.

"Well, well, well, seems I've lucked out." he spoke. "I get the honor of eliminating one of you Slifers after all, but at the cost of working with another Slifer Slacker and losing one of our Obelisk Blues."

"Put your cards where your mouth is, Rich Boy." Chris snapped, activating his dueldisk.

"Yeah, we won't be so easy to beat." Rakaia agreed, activating his own dueldisk. "We've mixed and matched our cards so that we can bring out some awesome combos."

"I look forward to seeing them." Rose grinned at them.

She and Chazz activated their dueldisks, and they and their opponents drew their starting hands.

"Let's duel!" they shouted.

"Allow me to kick things off!" Chazz exclaimed, drawing his card. "And I activate Graceful Charity! This card allows me to draw three times, but discard twice from my hand."

He drew three cards from his deck, then put them in his hand, and took out two cards, discarding them to the graveyard. Then he placed two cards into his Spell and Trap card slot.

"I place two cards facedown on the field, and that will do it." Chazz finished.

"Good, because I'm ready to kick butt!" Chris retorted, as he began his turn. "My draw!"

He drew the top card from his deck, and then placed it onto his dueldisk, facedown in a sideways position, which appeared onto the field the same way.

"I play a monster in Defense," Chris continued, before placing three cards into his Spell and Trap card slot. "And I think I'll set three facedowns up to take you down after that."

"Is that all?" asked Chazz. "Pathetic."

"No, I'm not done yet. I've got one more card to play."

He pressed the button on his dueldisk, and the Field Spell slot opened. Chris then held up a card from his hand, and placed it into the slot. The slot closed up and a swirling, rainbow-colored vortex appeared in the ceiling.

"What is this?" asked Rose.

"It's Centrifugal Field, a Fusion-user's best friend." explained Chris. "When a Fusion monster gets clobbered, by a card effect, like Mirror Force or Raigeki, one of the Fusion Material Monsters used to summon it gets to come back and fight. So say for example that like if it were on the field when Jaden and Chazz were dueling, and Chazz destroyed Elemental Hero Flame Wingman with a card effect, Jaden could bring back Avian or Burstinatrix, and have some defense should Chazz still be able to attack."

Jaden bopped his free hand with his fist, understanding what he meant.

"I get it." he said, smiling. "I've so gotta get that in my deck!"

Meanwhile, back on the stage, Rose was about to begin her turn. She drew her card, and immediately placed it into her hand before taking another one out.

"I play Skilled White Magician in Attack Mode!" she called.

A hooded man dressed in a white and black armored robe with gold trims rose up onto the field with a staff in his hand. Underneath his armor was a black robe tied with a black sash, and he wore white and gold bracers with black gloves. Embedded in his armor were three dark blue gems, which looked like the ornament on top of his silver staff. He had 1700 ATK.

"Wanna know what makes him so skilled?" asked Rose. "You'll find out, once those gems on his robe light up."

She then took another card from her hand, and placed it into her dueldisk, which appeared onto the field in a standing position.

"First, I play the A. Forces Spell card," announced Rose. "With this out, all Spellcasters and Warriors I have on the field gain 200 ATK for each one of their kind on my side of the field."

"Big whoop." shrugged Chris.

He did not notice the gem on the left side of Skilled White Magician's outfit light up, and the symbol for the Spell Counter was embedded in it. Then Rose put in another card into the Spell and Trap card slot.

"I'll follow my move up with the Reinforcement of the Army Spell," she continued. "Now I get to take a Warrior monster from my deck and add it to my hand, so long as it's a Level 4 or below of course."

She put her hand in her pocket for a minute as she took her deck out of it's slot, then fanned the cards out to look for the one she wanted. After a few seconds of scanning, she took one out and held it up for her opponents to see. The card she selected was the Marauding Captain. After shuffling her deck, she replaced it into her deck slot, and took her hand out of her pocket, and joined it with her new card. The gem on Skilled White Magician's right side now lit up, and now Rakaia noticed it.

_"Wait, what does a Skilled White Magician do when all three of those Spell Counter gems light up?"_ he thought, trying to remember. _"I know it let's her play another monster, but which one was it? Gaia the Fierce Knight? No, that's brought out by the Skilled Blue Magician...Dark Magician?...Oh, yeah, Skilled Dark Magician's effect brings him out. Which one did Skilled White Magician get to Special Summon when all three Counters were lit up?"_

The dragon duelist thought about it long and hard, until Rose's voice broke his trance.

"...Now I activate Emblem of Dragon Destroyer!" she called.

Rakaia watched as another Spell card appeared onto the field, and then Rose replaced her hand into her pocket so that she could take her deck out of it's slot again.

"With this, I can bring a Buster Blader from my deck, and add it straight to my hand." she said, taking a card out.

She shuffled her deck once again, and replaced it back into her deck slot, then her Skilled White Magician's center gem lit up. After a few seconds, Rakaia's eyes widened in realization, knowing what was coming next.

"Oh, no." he groaned.

"Bingo, Smokestack." grinned Rose. "I activate my Skilled White Magician's special ability, and tribute him so I can Special Summon the Buster Blader I just added to my hand."

The Skilled White Magician raised his staff, with the gem on top glowing very brightly with a blue light, along with the three embedded in his armor. The light enveloped him, and blinded his enemies for a brief moment, and when it faded, Rose's Buster Blader stood in place of the monster that summoned him.

"You love that card, don't you?" asked Rakaia.

"'Bout as much as you loved your dragons." Rose replied, simply. "Okay, now I activate my Sword of Dragon's Soul Spell card, and give it to my Blader, giving him a 700 pt. boost."

A larger sword replaced the one that the Buster Blader had come with, and his ATK shot up from 2600 to 3300. The sword appeared to have jagged edges which resembled the spikes that were usually on a dragon's back.

"Well, this is bad." commented Ms. Lake. "Even if Rakaia brings out his best dragon, it can't touch her Buster Blader without getting destroyed."

"What do you mean?" asked Syrus.

"Allow me to give an example." replied Hailey. "Yugi has a monster equipped with Sword of Dragon's Soul, and Kaiba has his Blue Eyes White Dragon attack that monster, or the dragon's the one who's attacked, it wouldn't matter how strong Blue Eyes is, because Sword of the Dragon's Soul would still instantly vanquish it at the end of the Battle Phase."

Syrus and Jaden both grimaced, looking at their friend and roommate very worriedly.

"Not a bad move." Chris complimented his opponent, smiling. "You're just about ready for us, aren't you?"

"My Buster Blader only got beat last time because Rakaia had a cool combo set up." Rose stated, smirking.

"Yeah, well, maybe I can help put a stop to your Buster Blader this time."

One of his set cards flipped up, revealing to be a Trap card.

"You're playing Conscription now?" asked Rose.

"Better now than later." Chris shrugged. "Now flip over the top card on your deck. If it's a Monster that can be Summoned, fork it over so I can play it, if not, you get to keep it."

Rose drew the top card of her deck, then frowned when she looked at it. The card vanished and reappeared onto Chris' dueldisk, on the Monster card slot beside his set monster. The monster wore a blue cape with a high collar over a green jumpsuit with blue stripes on his sleeves and legs, along with yellow boots and matching gloves. It also wore a blue witch's hat, which overshadowed the wearer's face, which was hidden behind the purple and blue handmirror in it's hands. This monster had 0 ATK.

"Awesome, he got the Copycat!" exclaimed Syrus. "He can copy the ATK pts. of any monster on the field!"

"And I choose to have it copy your Buster Blader's ATK strength!" shouted Chris.

The Copycat flashed it's mirror in Rose's direction with the reflection of her monster in it, then the Spellcaster monster began to glow with a green light, as it's ATK jumped up to 2600.

"Hey, it only went up to 2600." Syrus pointed out.

"Buster Blader originally had 2600 ATK pts.," Ms. Lake explained, as he looked at her. "Copycat can only copy a monster's original ATK strength, without enhancements from other cards, including it's own effect."

"Well, at least they've got a tough monster out." said Jaden.

Rose ended her turn, and Rakaia began to start his move. He drew his card, and was now looking for a good defensive move to start with. Then he finally took a card out of his hand, and held it up.

"Okay, for my move, I summon the Eclipse Wyvern in Attack Mode!" the dragon duelist called.

A medium-sized dragon with a head similar to a Blue Eyes White Dragon, but with a dual-colored body appeared onto the field. One the right half-side of it's face, it had black scales with a red outline, while the left side had blue eyes and white scales, and the colors switched on the neck part. Then on the torso, legs, and the wings, the right side had black scales with markings on the torso and the legs, with long spikes on the back, while on the wings, there was a flame pattern at the top of the flap of its wing. The other wing was dark silver and white, while the lower half of it's body was silver, and the tail was half-black with red markings, and half-white with a long hooked tail. It had 1600 ATK.

"That's it for me." announced Rakaia.

"Good, because now I can go." said Chazz.

He drew his card, then placed it down onto his dueldisk.

"Rise, X-Head Cannon!" he shouted.

The familiar purple and yellow, gun-toting machine monster emerged onto the field, standing on the spiked sphere it had in place of legs. Then Chazz's facedown card flipped face-up, revealing to be a Trap card.

"Now I play Call of the Haunted, so I can bring a monster back from the graveyard." he continued. "And I have just the monster for the job, my Z-Metal Tank!"

The yellow and green tank rose up onto the field in a golden light, humming eagerly as it faced it's enemies.

"And now I activate a Spell card from my hand called Frontline Base!" Chazz said, as he put a card into his dueldisk's Spell and Trap slot. "Of course you do know what's gonna happen next right?"

"Yeah, you've got Y-Dragon Head in your hand don't you?" asked Chris.

Said dragon-like machine rose up onto the field in Attack Mode, and it glared at him and Rakaia, as if wanting to tear them apart.

"Alright, boys, merge!" shouted Chazz.

The three machines on his field leapt into the air, and began reassembling their parts and pieces before combining with one another like the Power Rangers' Zords working to create a colossal Megazord. Seconds later, the XYZ Dragon Cannon was fully-formed and landed gracefully back onto the field once again.

"Only 200 pts. stronger than the Copycat's." observed Hailey.

"That, and it's effect is pretty powerful, too." said Ken.

"Exactly right, but before I use it, I'll activate my Pot of Greed Spell card!" announced Chazz, who held up another card. "And that lets me draw twice more!"

He discarded his Pot of Greed Spell, then drew two cards from his deck.

"Now I equip my Dragon Cannon with Big Bang Shot!" said Chazz. "Not only does this give my monster an additional 400 pt. boost, whenever he attacks a monster in Defense, the difference in the attacking monster's ATK pts., and the defending monster's DEF pts. are dealt straight to you kids as damage!"

A green aura enveloped the XYZ Dragon Cannon as it's ATK rose up to 3200, and Chris gulped in shock.

"Oh, boy." groaned Rakaia.

"But first, I activate my Dragon Cannon's effect, by sending a card from my hand to the graveyard, I can use it's effect to wipe out any card on your field." said Chazz.

After discarding his last card to the graveyard, the Obelisk elitist grinned at his opponents. The XYZ Dragon Cannon took aim at the Copycat and fired once, taking it out with one blast. Chris and Rakaia raised their arms to shield themselves from the effects of the blast.

"Now, Dragon Cannon, attack!" commanded Chazz. "Your target, their facedown monster!"

The XYZ Dragon Cannon took aim once again, turning on the spot, and fired at Chris' set monster. After being blasted, the monster flipped up, revealing to be the 4-Starred Ladybug of Doom, then shattered. Chris growled, as his and Rakaia's life points dropped to 6000.

"You okay, Chris?" asked Rakaia.

"Oh, yeah, never been better." replied Chris.

"Not for long, because I activate my Trap card, Lineage of Destruction!" announced Chazz.

His facedown card flipped up, and both it and the XYZ Dragon Cannon began to glow with a red aura.

"Since I just attacked a monster in Defense Mode, and I have a Level 8 monster on my side of the field, my Level 8 monster can attack twice in the same Battle Phase." explained Chazz.

"Then they'll lose!" yelped Syrus.

"Cool your jets, Sy," Ken told him. "Since he's attacking with the Level 8 monster that's affected by Lineage of Destruction, and it already attacked once this round, it only gets one more attack. Besides, they'd have enough to last another round."

"Oh, never mind then."

The XYZ Dragon Cannon then turned to face Rakaia's Eclipse Wyvern, and took aim, it's cannons loading up.

"Hey, Wyvern, you might want to brace yourself." Rakaia told his monster. "Because this is gonna hurt."

"XYZ Dragon Cannon, attack!" shouted Chazz. "Destroy that Slifer Slime's Eclipse Wyvern!"

The massive, multi-colored, machine monster fired two more blasts Rakaia's way, and they struck his Eclipse Wyvern, taking another 1200 pts. from their score, leaving them with 4800.

"You activated my monster's special ability, Chazz!" Rakaia told his opponent. "Now I can take a Level 7 DARK or LIGHT attribute monster from my deck, and remove it from play!"

"Let me guess, it's your favorite buddy the Red Eyes Black Dragon, isn't it?" asked Chazz.

"Two words: 'Winged Kuriboh'."

Chazz growled at him, angrily. He didn't like being reminded of how his mighty VWXYZ Dragon Catapult Cannon was taken down by a Slifer Slacker's weak little monster, and how it practically cost him the duel.

_"Translation: 'Screw you, Princeton. I'll play what I want.'"_ Sega thought, smirking.

Chris, now knowing that there was nothing else Chazz can do in his turn, began to start his.

"Okay, while you two talk out your problems, I'm gonna take my turn now." he told his partner and opponent, as he drew his card. "And I'm just gonna set a monster this round."

Another monster appeared facedown onto the field, much to Chazz's annoyance.

"Fight back, you pacifist!" the spiky-haired teen snapped.

"Chazz, if you'd been taking notes from some of your losses and other people's duels lately, you'd actually see that there's more to dueling than just shoving back when someone shoves you first." Chris scolded him. "Be patient, I'll fight back when we're good and ready."

Jaden smiled, understanding what he was saying.

"Nice words of wisdom, Chris." he commented, nodding. "You get what he's saying, Sy?"

Syrus nodded back at him, also smiling.

"My turn, so here I come!" Rose called, drawing her card. "And I summon the Hayabusa Knight in Attack Mode!"

A humanoid, purple and white feathered falcon, dressed in what looked like a gold and silver knight's armor, emerged onto the field in a battle stance, with a sword firmly clutched in it's talons. It had 1000 ATK, which jumped to 1400 because of A. Forces' effect.

"Now, Buster Blader, attack Chris' facedown monster!" commanded Rose. "Dragon Sword Attack!"

Buster Blader charged at Chris and his monster in a mad dash, but before he could even touch them, Chris thrust out his hand before him.

"Not so fast!" he interrupted. "Go, Enemy Controller!"

His set card flipped up, and a video game controller materialized into Chris' hands, while the cord attached itself into Buster Blader's back, stopping him in his tracks.

"That was too close." sighed Alexis.

"Yeah, with that on the field, Buster Blader's practically under Chris' control." agreed Luna.

"Alright, buddy, let's say you chill out in Attack Mode for the rest of this turn?" asked Chris.

He pressed a few buttons on the controller, and Buster Blader was forced to return to his owner's side of the field, then knelt down into a guarding position. The controller and the cable vanished, along with the now-used up Spell card.

"Good move, Chris!" Rakaia said, grinning at him.

"Thanks, dude." replied Chris.

"Excuse me, gentlemen, I interrupt this moment with breaking news." said Rose. "It seems that there's a Hayabusa Knight headed your way, and he's got a bone to pick with your facedown card."

Sure enough, the avian knight was flying at Chris and his monster, crying bravely.

"Falcon Slash Attack!" shouted Rose.

Chris watched as his monster was sliced in half by the Hayabusa Knight's blade, and a massive jaw materialized from underneath it.

"What's that?" asked Chazz.

"Another of my little friends." responded Chris. "You see, Rose attacked my Morphing Jar, and when it's flipped, it takes all the cards in her hand, and mine."

The Morphing Jar then poked it's shadowy head out of the mouth of the jar, and looked at Chris and Rose, a hungry look in it's eye. It suddenly shot out like a cannon towards Rose and gobbled up the remaining two cards in her hand.

"H-Hey!" yelped Rose.

The monster then made a u-turn and ate up the last card in it's owners hand, then shattered into little pixels.

"Don't be too disappointed, Rose," Chris reassured his opponent. "Now we get to draw five new cards from our decks."

"Okay, I guess I'll forgive you for now." sighed Rose.

She and Chris drew their hands, and upon seeing some of the cards in his hand, Chris looked at his partner out of the corner of his eyes. Rakaia caught this and subtly nodded.

_"Just about showtime."_ he thought. _"We need our last part of the equation, and we'll have achieved our goal of winning the way we wanted too. One of us just needs to draw the card we needed, or they have to do it for us."_

"AGH!" a voice yelled.

Rakaia turned to see Chris grasping his chest in pain, as their life points dropped by 1400, leaving them with 3400. The Hayabusa Knight had attacked again before returning to his side of the field.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot that Tweety gets two attacks in one go." groaned Chris.

"Now, I'll end my turn with a couple of facedowns." Rose announced, setting two cards in her Spell and Trap card slots.

"Hey, hold on! I've got one more card up my sleeve before you end your turn!"

Chris' last facedown card flipped up, revealing to be another Trap card.

"What might that be?" asked Chazz.

"Another gambling card called Prophecy!" replied Chris. "And I can randomly choose a monster in Rose's hand, then guess whether it's ATK is over, under, or equal to 2000 pts.. If I win, I get to add it to my hand."

"Oh, great." groaned Rose. "Another one."

Chris then glanced at Rose's hand, and looked between the remaining three cards in her hand.

"I pick the middle one!" he called.

Rose held it up, the back facing her opponent.

"Now as for it's ATK, I'm guessing...under 2000." her opponent declared.

The audience watched with anticipation, waiting to see if he was correct. Dr. Crowler was crossing his fingers, hoping that Chris failed, and wouldn't score another card. Rose then shrugged, and flipped it around, revealing it to be the Marauding Captain, which had 1200 ATK.

"Atta boy, Chris!" cheered Ramon.

"Good show!" agreed Bastion.

Chris smiled, as the card he selected appeared into his hand.

"Bravo, Chris." Rose said, clapping her hands. "You've got quite the lucky streak."

"Aw, thanks." Chris replied, embarrassedly.

"Alright, Smokestack, you're up!"

Rakaia raised his eyebrows at her, then shook his head, and looked down at his deck as he drew his card.

"Ay yi yi..." he muttered, before holding up his card. "I play Reload, which lets me shuffle my hand into my deck, and draw the same number of cards I put in."

Rakaia discarded his Reload Spell, then added his hand into his deck, and shuffled it thoroughly. Once he was satisfied, he replaced the deck into it's deck slot, and drew five new cards.

"Awesome!" he chuckled. "Now you're in for it! I summon my Lord of Dragons in Attack Mode!"

He placed the card onto the dueldisk, and the sorcerer in dragonic armor appeared onto the field with a yell, and faced his opponents with a stern glare. Then Rakaia took another card from his and slid it into the Spell and Trap card slot.

"Next, I play his favorite Spell card called Flute of the Summoning Dragon," he continued. "Now I can bring out two more dragons to the field, regardless of level, and I've got just the two in mind."

"Would Red Eyes Black Dragon happen to be one of them?" asked Rose.

"No-I don't even have him in my hand right now! Ugh, I summon my Rabidragon, and my Kaiser Glider in Attack Mode!"

The furry, rabbit-like dragon from the duel with the two Underground duelists re-appeared onto the field once again, growling and snarling at Chazz and Rose. Next, a golden-armored dragon appeared beside it, with 2400 ATK.

"...Is that where the rabbit from the Monty Python movie came from?" asked Chazz.

"I've asked Rakaia the same thing the last time he played that." Rose told him.

"Next, I play one of my favorite Spell cards, Burden of the Mighty!" Rakaia announced, placing a card into his Spell and Trap card slot. "Ever hear of the expression 'the bigger they are, the harder they fall'? Well, that's kinda how this works, because the higher the level your monster is, the more pts. it loses. 100 for each level."

Chazz and Rose watched as their monsters grew considerably weaker and weaker by the microsecond. XYZ Dragon Cannon's ATK dropped to 2000, and Hayabusa Knight's ATK became 1000.

"Attack, Rabidragon, and slaughter Chazz's XYZ Dragon Cannon!" yelled Rakaia.

The mighty, beastly dragon roared and hopped once into the air, aiming to pounce the machine monster. Rose glanced down at her two set cards, then back up at the Rabidragon, with a slight smirk, as it trounced her partner's monster, leaving them at 7050.

"Thanks for the back up." growled Chazz.

Rose merely hmphed in response.

_"That was for the remark towards me and my friends."_ she growled at him, inwardly.

"I activate my Trap card, Threatening Roar!" she called aloud. "So, no more attacks can be declared this round."

A light purple barrier rose up around her, her monsters, and Chazz, and Rakaia groaned, taking another card from his hand, placing it in his Spell and Trap card slot.

"I'll end my turn with a facedown." he announced.

"And now I'll go!" Chazz said, drawing his card.

He looked down at it and frowned.

_"It's not much, but it's all I can do."_ he thought.

"I activate the Spell card Fissure!" shouted Chazz. "With this, I can destroy the weakest monster you have on the field, like that Lord of Dragons you've got there!"

Rakaia growled as he watched his monster shatter into pieces, which made Chazz smile a bit.

"One turn left, and you two will be finished." he said.

"Not if I can help it!" declared Chris. "I'll end you guys on my turn!"

"You've been playing defense the whole duel."

"And it's like I said, there's more to a duel than pushing until someone pushes back."

Rakaia looked at him, and nodded, smiling.

"That's right, Chris." he said. "And while you contemplate what he's saying, Chazz, I play my Trap card, Dragon's Roar!"

His facedown card flipped up, much to Chazz's confusion.

"Okay, so what?" he said. "You don't even have any dragons out."

"Not yet." Rakaia told him. "Chris, show him what we've got!"

Chris nodded back at him, and drew his card.

"Really?" Chazz laughed. "And how will Mr. Pacifist manage to do that?"

Chris then held up the card he drew, much to his and Rose's surprise.

"How about this?!" he asked. "I play Soul Release, and with it, I can remove up to any five cards in our graveyards, and I mean 'any'! So I banish from the game Rakaia's Eclipse Wyvern, Chazz's XYZ Dragon Cannon, Rose's Copycat and Skilled White Magician, and my 4-Starred Ladybug of Doom!"

The five cards appeared onto the field in their card form for a moment, then began to glow with a golden light before shooting off into their owners' deck cases.

"With that, I trigger Rakaia's Eclipse Wyvern's special ability, now that he's been banished from the graveyard, I can add the card Rakaia removed from the game to my hand." said Chris.

The card appeared into his hand with the other cards he received from his Morphing Jar's effect, then Chris looked over at his partner with a nod.

"Play it, buddy!" Rakaia called, grinning.

"Right! I play Polymerization!" Chris announced, holding up a card. "Fuse Rakaia's Red Eyes Black Dragon and my Beast of Talwar!"

A swirling vortex appeared on the ceiling, and the two monsters appeared onto the field, standing side by side. The Beast of Talwar was a green-skinned monster with blue demonic wings, with black pants, and two pairs of yellow horns on his head. It's yellow eyes seemed to be narrowed into a glare. It had 2400 ATK.

"Ready to go, buddy?" the Red Eyes Black Dragon asked, eagerly.

"Let's do it." replied the Beast of Talwar.

They jumped into the air, and disappeared into the portal.

"Whoa, never seen this fusion before." commented Luna.

"What's going on?!" screamed Dr. Crowler.

A terrible storm began to break out into the arena once again, and Weevil ducked into the bleachers, making Rex and the Duel Academy staff turn to stare at him.

"Oh, brother." groaned Rex.

A large, demonic looking dragon with red skin and black, spiked scales and a white bones going around its chest dropped down onto the field, with a much more vicious-looking face, and spiked red wings. It had 3200 ATK.

"Where did that come from?!" asked Hailey.

"I can think of a few good places," replied Syrus. "And neither of which are where I'd like to be."

Buster Blader looked from between his new opponent and his sword, then turned to Rose.

"We're gonna need a bigger blade." he told her.

"You're gonna need a lot more than that!" Chris spoke, looking at them. "Next, I play Megamorph! Since you have more life points than we do, the monster equipped with this gets their ATK pts. doubled, like my Black Dragon Archfiend!"

With that, Black Dragon Archfiend's ATK went from 3200 to 6400, making the audience and their opponents stare in shock.

"Whoa." spoke Ken.

"That's a little overkill." Jaden pointed out.

"You two...!" growled Chazz.

"Rakaia and I spent our last few days preparing for our duel, this monster we got right here? I found it in a card pack we bought the other day." explained Chris. "And I had my Beast of Talwar since my days in elementary school, so we decided to throw our new little friend in."

"That's one wicked combination." said Matt.

"And powerful." agreed Bastion.

"Black Dragon Archfiend, attack!" shouted Chris. "Brimstone Blaze!"

His new monster roared loudly before plunging it's claw into the ground, then a series of lava towers began shooting out from the ground, creating a wall until a tower shot out from beneath Buster Blader, incinerating him. Buster Blader howled in agony before he shattered into billions of pixels. Rose and Chazz's life points then decreased to 2950, because of Dragon Roar's effect helping Black Dragon Archfiend deal piercing damage.

"Oops." Rakaia and Chris grimaced.

"Maybe we should've cooled it on how much power we used." said Black Dragon Archfiend. "Sorry, Blade!"

Chazz then began laughing, despite seeing how powerful the new monster was, and how low their life points were.

"Looks like I had nothing to worry about after all." he said. "You do know that at the end of the Battle Phase, your monster will be destroyed because of Sword of Dragon's Soul's effect, right?"

"You're right about one thing, Chazz," Chris interrupted, smiling. "Black Dragon Archfiend is leaving the field, but not in the way you think."

He held up another card from his hand, and the massive dragon in front of him began to glow with a blue aura.

"No, not that!" yelled Chazz.

"De-Fusion, split my monster into two again!" ordered Chris.

The Black Dragon Archfiend roared once, and vanished in a flash of light. Upon fading the Red Eyes Black Dragon and Beast of Talwar reappeared onto the field.

"Brilliant move!" said Bastion.

"Go get him!" cheered Sega.

"Gladly!" yelled Chris. "Red Eyes, take out Rose's Knight with Inferno Fire Blast!"

Red Eyes Black Dragon opened his mouth and fired a fireball at his enemy, destroying it instantly. Rose winced in pain as her and Chazz's life points dropped down to 1750, but they weren't out of the woods yet.

"Now, Beast of Talwar, end this!" commanded Chris. "Nightmare Slash Attack!"

The green-skinned fiend rushed at Rose, and slashed at her with his sword, making her drop to her knees as her's and Chazz's remaining score was wiped down to 0. The crowd began cheering as the holograms faded away, and Dr. Crowler growled with anger as he watched Rakaia and Chris high-five each other.

_"What's it going to take to get these slackers kicked out of my school?!"_ he screamed mentally.

Rose sighed, heavily, knowing she had lost another battle, then looked up to see Rakaia standing before her.

"Great game." said Rakaia. "You almost had us."

"I'll get you next time." Rose told him. "Mark my words, I will beat you someday, Smokestack."

"We'll see."

Rakaia helped her up, and they shook hands. Chazz turned to leave, but stopped when Chris walked over to him.

"Good game, man." the taller teen told him. "Better luck next time, and try not to act so grouchy. You've gotta keep a level head."

"I don't need your stupid fisherman advice!" Chazz snapped, glaring at him. "I only lost because I had a Slifer Slacker on my team."

"I had a Slifer Red on my team, and I did pretty well."

"You only won because you pulled off the win. Without your help, he would've been expelled."

With that, Chazz stormed off back to the bleachers, while Rose and Rakaia joined Chris.

"Well, buddy, you tried." Rose said, patting her friend on the shoulder.

"There are just some people that don't like to listen." agreed Rakaia. "It's like talking to a brick wall sometimes."

"Yeah, well, I'm gonna help break it down." Chris declared, calmly. "Dude's gotta learn to chill out in a duel."

The three of them walked back over to their friends, who immediately got up to congratulate Chris and Rakaia on their victory. Syrus began to grow nervous however, as it was his and Jaden's turn now.

_"This is it." _he thought. _"It's our turn now. If we don't win, we'll be expelled."_

* * *

How awesome was that duel? Okay, the Black Dragon Archfiend was something I found when looking up some Red Eyes Black Dragon cards, and I stumbled onto that one. It's a real card, if not, I apologize and retract my statement. Next up is Jaden and Syrus' duel, I'll update soon.

Also, if you know who the mystery Duel Spirit from the previous chapter was, message me with the answer, don't send a review with it. You got your hint in this chapter, and there was another in the previous chapter. I'll try to have the next chapter up soon, then we get to a fun chapter involving Dr. Crowler.


	22. Main Event

Ch.22- Main Event-

Moments after the duel between Rakaia and Chris and Chazz and Rose finished, Jaden and Syrus began heading up to begin their duel. Rakaia and Chris sat back in their seats alongside the other three who participated in the Trial Duels, and waited to see who their friends would be dueling. Meanwhile, on the side, Red Eyes Black Dragon, Beast of Talwar, Athena, and Winged Kuriboh were standing around Buster Blader, who still appeared to be a bit singed from the battle earlier.

"Sorry about that." Red Eyes Black Dragon apologized, grimly.

"Yes, we did not know our own strength." Beast of Talwar agreed, bowing deeply.

"No big deal." Buster Blader replied, wincing slightly. "Just ease up on the flames next time."

Meanwhile, Winged Kuriboh looked up and noticed that the new Duel Spirit was sitting against the wall by their friends. Now that the man was now into the light, the others could see him more clearly. Upon a closer, better look at him, the man had black, disheveled hair with gray streaks here and there and a light stubble on his chin, and behind his dark sunglasses were a pair of eyes, one of which was sealed shut by a lengthy scar. The other eye was amber brown, and it's intense gaze was kept on the two duelists heading onto the dueling stage. He wore a red haori with blue trims and red linings, which was held shut around the middle by a white, blue, and black strap with a pair of brown belts attached to it, and a brown shoulderpad with golden patterns embedded in it with a beaded cain hanging off of it. Beneath it was a black armored sleeveless shirt with a high white collar with brown straps closing it, which concealed the lower half of his face. He also wore a pair of black pants with white narrow stripes going down it, and a pair of metal-plated black shoes. Winged Kuriboh flew over to the man, and hooted at him cheerfully. The man smiled, then reached out to him, with the hand not being held in the sleeve of his haori, and scratched the little monster behind the wings, making it hoot more excitedly.

"I see you two are getting along pretty well." observed Hailey.

The human Duel Spirit looked up at her to see her smiling at him, along with Rakaia and Ken. He merely grunted in response, and returned his gaze to his little friend, as he continued scratching.

"You were right, guys," said Hailey. "He isn't very talkative."

"Auron's usually like that." laughed Rakaia.

Back up on the stage, Dr. Crowler had just joined Jaden and Syrus, with a microphone in his hand, ready to announce the final duel.

"Now, without further ado, allow me to introduce our last guest tag team duelists!" the Ancient Gear duelist announced.

Then suddenly, a pair of bald-headed figures darted out onto the duel stage, flipping across it like a pair of highly-trained gymnasts.

"What is this?" asked Jaden.

The two men finally landed onto the ground behind him and Syrus, kneeling, then rose up to their feet. The man on the right wore a red kimono over a black suit with light orange cuffs, while the one on the left wore a similar outfit, but in green. Beside that and the different markings on their foreheads, they appeared to look very similar, like twins.

"The Paradox Brothers!" announced Dr. Crowler.

"Salutations, you fools." Para, the one in orange and black, greeted.

"Hope you're ready to duel." the man in green and black, Dox, added.

With the others seated by the doorway, Ms. Lake facepalmed, groaning.

"God, not them." she moaned.

"I know," Rakaia agreed, his arms crossed over his chest. "Those guys aren't like the teams we've fought today."

"It's not that, Rakaia. Now we've gotta listen to them rhyme."

Back on the stage, Jaden and Syrus just stared at their opponents blankly.

"Uh, I've never heard of these guys." Jaden admitted.

"Me neither," agreed Syrus. "Maybe this tag match won't be so bad."

That was when Dr. Crowler walked directly behind them, smiling widely.

"Perhaps, after all,..." he spoke.

Jaden and Syrus turned to him, waiting for their teacher to continue.

"...they haven't dueled in ages!" the Obelisk Blue headmaster continued, turning to them. "And their last opponent was a child. I believe he went by the name of 'Yugi' something?"

Syrus then turned back to look at the tag team twins, as did Jaden.

"The King of Games?" he whispered.

Back in the bleachers, Alexis' eyes narrowed, knowing full well who the Paradox Brothers were.

"I've studied these guys, they're some kind of dueling mercenaries," she spoke, remembering. "Not to mention the best tag duelists in the world. This is hardly fair."

"I think that was Crowler's point." Bastion pointed out. "Statistically speaking, I put Jaden's odds at winning this to be 1 in 50."

Taryn, Jessi, Laura, Will, and Matt turned to glare at him slightly. Elsewhere in the room, Chazz laughed under his breath, already having returned to his seat before the Paradox Brothers made their appearance, as did his partner.

"Hey, Chumpley!" he called. "Looks like you're about to have a whole lot more room in your dorm now! Your friends are toast!"

Chumley looked down at him, nervously.

"Aw, not 'licious." he groaned.

Rose, who was standing beside him, patted him on the back.

"Don't worry, they'll win." she told him. "I know they will."

"Let's hope." said Chumley.

Zane just stared out at the four duelists with a silent, focused glance, while the two teams were just about ready to begin the duel.

"Enough with the pleasantries,..." Para began.

"And now on with the duel." finished Dox.

"We didn't come here to talk."

"We came..."

"To destroy you!" the two duelists declared.

Jaden groaned at the rhyme, while Syrus just stared blankly still, and Dr. Crowler tried his best to hide his gleeful giggling. Then, Chancellor Sheppard stepped forward to address his vice-chancellor.

"Crowler, don't you think this is a bit much?" he asked.

"No, not at all!" the Ancient Gear duelist responded, quickly. "Jaden and Syrus broke a big time rule, so they should face big time opponents, like the rest of them!"

Ms. Lake, Ken, Hailey, Rakaia, and Chris then glared at him from their seats upon hearing that. They knew Crowler didn't want his fun spoiled.

"Besides, we can't send the Brothers back now, they've come so far!" he further argued.

"What's that matter?" agreed Chancellor Sheppard. "You're paying their travel costs. Weevil and Rex's too."

Dr. Crowler's eyes widened instantly in shock. That didn't occur to him.

"Jaden, I'll leave it up to you, son." the school headmaster chuckled, good-naturedly.

"Aw, these guys couldn't even beat male pattern baldness," replied Jaden. "So there's no way they're ever gonna be able to beat us!"

Dr. Crowler groaned in annoyance, while Chancellor Sheppard laughed at his student's joke.

"Oh, how wonderfully clever." the doctor spoke, sarcastically.

He rose back up on his feet, and made his way to the center of the stage, while Jaden, Syrus, and the Paradox Brothers got into their positions.

"Duelists, prepare to battle!" called Dr. Crowler.

Jaden and Syrus stared down their opponents, who did the same with them, then Jaden looked over at his partner. Syrus was looking very nervous, and looked as if he had frozen in shock.

"Breathe, Sy." Jaden whispered to his partner.

He inhaled and exhaled to show him how easy it was, but that didn't help too much.

"We can do this!" the E-Hero duelist told him.

Syrus just grinned in response, but still looked a bit pale.

"Alright, everyone knows the rules for this tag team duel by now, they're really quite simple." Dr. Crowler explained to both sides. "There is no sharing a strategy, no sharing of advice, and no sharing of a card that is not yet in play. But you may use what's on your partner's field, understood?"

"Yeah!" the four players responded, simultaneously.

"Then duel!"

The two teams' scores were set at 8000 each, and they drew their five-card hands from their respective decks.

"Get your games on!" yelled Jaden.

After drawing his hand, he looked over at Syrus, who nodded back at him.

"Here goes!" the Vehicroid duelist shouted, drawing his card. "First off, I'm gonna summon...Gyroid in Attack Mode!"

The cartoonish blue and beige helicopter emerged onto the field, standing on it's wheels. It glared at the Paradox Brothers with it's big, cartoon-like eyes. It had 1000 ATK. Para glared at it in disgust, as he drew his card.

"You must be joking!" he scoffed. "I am surprised that that thing has an Attack Mode! This on the other hand,-Jirai Gumo!"

The orange and black clad man placed a card down onto his dueldisk instantly, and his monster, a large brown and black spider appeared onto the field with 2200 ATK.

"Hey, does that count as a rhyme?" Ken asked, looking up at her friends.

"Just watch the duel, Hothead." Chris told her.

"I wasn't losing my cool, Chris, I was just asking."

Meanwhile, back in the duel, Jaden was just beginning his turn.

"What? An overgrown bug?" he commented, drawing his card. "Haven't we seen enough of them in Weevil's deck? Well, that's nothing that my deck can't squash. Elemental Hero Burstinatrix, Defense Mode!"

His red-costumed pyrokinetic hero rose up onto the field with a yell, then knelt down before the Slifer Red duelist in Defense Mode with 800 DEF. Then Dox started his turn, drawing his card.

"The best defense, you fool, is a strong offense!" he stated, placing a card onto his dueldisk. "Kaiser Sea Horse, Attack Mode!"

A blue and purple bipedal sea creature rose up onto the field, clad in spiked, aquatic armor, with a spear that had a golden blade, a dark-colored handle, and a golden, spiked end. It had 1700 ATK. Now each player had only one card on the field, their monsters.

_"Alright, if I know dueling like I think I know dueling, these guys are sure to attack next."_ Syrus calculated inwardly.

However,...

"I choose to play a Spell card from my hand!" announced Dox.

Syrus gasped, not counting on this play, as he watched the green and black-clad twin take a card from his hand. Then it appeared onto the field, face-up.

"Tribute Doll!" called Dox. "To activate, I must sacrifice one monster from our side of the field, good thing my brother is so generous with his!"

He looked at his brother, who nodded back at him with a smile.

"Farewell, Jirai Gumo!" Dox said, as his brother's monster was grasped by a hair-like claw and destroyed. "Now I am allowed to summon a Level 7 monster this turn, and I choose to summon Kazejin!"

He held up a card, as a massive whirlwind kicked up in the arena. Jaden and Syrus raised their arms to shield their eyes from the gust, while their friends behind them were nearly blown out of their seats.

"Who's blasting the A/C?!" asked Hailey.

"No one, they're playing a real tough monster!" replied Ms. Lake.

"Wonderful!" Ken yelled back, sarcastically.

Winged Kuriboh, still in his spirit form, tried his hardest to fight against the strong winds blowing his way, but failed and was blown backwards. He hooted panickedly as he went sailing through the air, but was then caught by a strong arm. The furry fairy monster looked up to see Auron holding onto him with one arm, while he, and Red Eyes Black Dragon continued to watch the duel, unaffected by the gusts of wind. Athena, Beast of Talwar, and Buster Blader moved to join them, and the six of them continued to watch the duel.

"What's a Kazejin?" asked Auron.

"You're about to find out!" replied Athena.

Back on the dueling field, a large monster in the shape of a sphere with massive arms rose up onto the field on Para and Dox's side. A kanji was embedded into the center of it, which glowed with a yellow light. The wind faded almost as quickly as it came, and the duelists and the audience now got a clearer look at the new monster. There were more markings embedded into the monster, and it looked like a face underneath the kanji marking, with two more vertical lines at the top. It had 2400 ATK.

"He sacrificed his brother's monster to summon a better one for the team," Bastion observed, impressed. "Now that's tag dueling."

"Would you mind trying not to sound quite so impressed with them?" asked Alexis.

"He's not wrong though." Bella told her. "These guys really do live up to their rep."

"Seriously, who's side are you guys on here? We're here to support our friends, which means we have our friends' backs."

Meanwhile, the rest of their friends continued to watch the duel, and waited to see what would come next.

"Do you actually think you know anything of this game?" asked Para.

"You're losers! You're jokes!" Dox taunted their opponents. "In other words, you're lame!"

"And if they think this is starting to get grueling,..."

"Wait 'til I draw, and really give them a true schooling."

Dox took another card from his hand, and placed it into a Spell and Trap card slot in his dueldisk.

"I play Dark Designator!" he announced. "This powerful Spell card allows me to call out any monster that I can think of, and if it's anywhere in my brother's deck, it's immediately added to his hand."

Syrus gasped, knowing that this could mean trouble for him and Jaden.

"Well, this is hardly fair." Chris groaned.

"Welcome to high school, Chris." Ms. Lake said, dryly.

Dox raised a hand slightly, with his index finger extended upward, with his eyes closed, and pretended to think about his move.

"Now, let me see here,..." he spoke, thoughtfully. "Sanga of the Thunder!"

Much to all several people's surprise, Para began laughing.

"What do you know?" he announced, taking the card out of his deck. "It's right here, ready to tear them asunder."

_"You've gotta be kidding me!"_ Jaden thought, frowning. _"Another Level 7 monster?"_

Para then suddenly raised his left hand into the air.

"The duel just started,..." he began.

"And yet it is almost done!" Dox added, raising his right hand.

The two brothers then lowered their hands down to point at their enemies.

"For your demise has already begun!" the Paradox Brothers finished, simultaneously.

If Syrus hadn't started panicking when the duel started, or just by watching how Dox's turn went, he surely was starting to now.

"Don't worry, Sy," Jaden reassured his partner. "They're only saying that 'cause it makes an easy rhyme."

_"Now I just hope we don't make for an easy match!"_ he added, mentally. _"Okay, monster roll call: I got my Burstinatrix chillin' in Defense Mode, and Sy's got...well, he's got his little helicopter thing. Not bad, but not good when we're starin' down at some serious opposition. Including some Level 7 green thing I've never seen before!"_

"What do you think, Jaden?" Syrus' voice called out to him, breaking his train of thought.

Jaden looked over at him, to see his partner still looking nervous.

"If we just quit right now, we'll have some extra time to pack up all of our stuff." the Vehicroid duelist argued, timidly. "So, uh, shall we?"

"The only thing we're packing is some serious duelin' punch!" Jaden declared, grinning. "I'm telling ya, we'll beat these guys, Sy! Our friends believed in themselves, and they've won their duels, now it's our turn!"

"You know what, Jaden, you're right!"

Syrus faced his opponents once again, looking a lot more braver now.

_"We are packing some serious dueling punch!"_ he thought.

He then looked to the side, and up at Zane, who was looking back down at him, the same, stoic expression on his face.

_"Not only am I gonna show the Paradox Brothers, but I'm gonna show my brother as well!" _he declared, inwardly. _"And I'm gonna do it right here, right now, on this turn!"_

"All aboard!" Syrus shouted, drawing his card. "I summon Steamroid in Attack Mode!"

After placing the card down onto the dueldisk, the cartoonish black and red steam-powered locomotive rose up onto the field with 1800 ATK. Then Syrus held up another card.

"And I also play this! Polymerization!" he called, as his monsters leapt into a vortex then disappeared. "Check it out! I'm taking my Gyroid and Steamroid and fusing them together to create the ultimate engine that could...Steam Gyroid!"

The fused machine monster emerged from the portal, and stared down the Kaiser Seahorse and Kazejin on it's opponent's side of the field.

"Now that's locomotion!" Syrus stated, smiling. "See, you guys made a mistake in all that teamwork, when you sacrificed that Jirai Gumo, you left your brother completely defenseless, leaving the door wide open to attack!"

"Uh, Sy?" Jaden called out to his friend.

The five people sitting behind him stared, taken aback.

"Oh, no." moaned Hailey.

"He's not..." Ken groaned, facepalming.

"And now I'm comin' in!" shouted Syrus. "Steam Gyroid, attack Para!"

"An attack?!" gasped Para.

"Got that right!"

The others watched in either shock, surprise, or in Crowler and Chazz's case, excitement, as the Steam Gyroid moved in to attack.

"If you please, brother." Para called out, smiling.

"It'd be my pleasure indeed, brother." Dox replied, nodding. "Kazejin, defend with Squall Barricade!"

Syrus watched in shock as his monster's attack was intercepted by the green, kanji-marked monster, who struck Steam Gyroid with a strong gust of wind. The machine fusion monster was knocked back over to Syrus' side of the field, but miraculously not destroyed.

"Our monster's special ability, do you like?" asked Dox.

"It reduces your damage to 0 without even a fight." Para explained.

Whatever courage Syrus had moments ago evaporated again, as his brave expression turned into a disappointed one.

"So I goofed?" he asked.

Meanwhile, on the side of the stage, Dr. Crowler crouched beside it, chuckling quietly at Syrus' mistake.

"Do these two actually think they have a chance of beating Para and Dox?" he asked himself. "They stink worse than dirty socks!...Hah! Now they even have me doing it!"

Behind him, Chancellor Sheppard continued to watch the duel with a smile on his face. Meanwhile, Jaden was trying to cheer up his partner, and encourage him to keep fighting.

"Forget it, Sy! No biggie!" he spoke.

"Yeah, right..." muttered Syrus.

"Hey, I'm serious, pal. Just keep going."

The E-Hero duelist sent his friend a thumbs-up, to which Syrus nodded to before facing his opponents once again.

"Alrighty then," the Vehicroid duelist announced, taking a card from his hand. "I play one card facedown and end my turn."

A set card appeared behind Steam Gyroid, which signaled the end of his turn.

"At last, a smart move!" exclaimed Para. "My draw!"

He drew a card from his deck, then placed it into his Spell and Trap card slot.

"I play Monster Reborn!" the orange-clad twin announced, as the card appeared onto the field. "And bring back the fearful Jirai Gumo!"

The massive spider reappeared from it's master's deck in a beam of light and onto the field when the light faded.

"And I'll also activate another Spell card!" Para continued, placing another card into his dueldisk's Spell and Trap slot. "Tribute Doll!"

"Not again!" yelped Syrus.

"Yes, again! And again, I will use it to sacrifice Jirai, so that I can summon another Level 7 monster, Suijin!"

Many of the dark tendrils spewed from the Spell card, wrapping around the spider monster once again, and both Spell card and monster shattered. The remains then reformed to make a large blue monster with a demonic face at the bottom of it's center, and a pair of leg-like arms on either side of it. This monster had 2500 ATK. Syrus gasped at the sight of it, while Jaden and their other friends just stared at the new monster.

"And I am not done yet!" Para went on, before looking at Dox. "Mind if I borrow a monster, brother?"

"Please, that's why he is there!" Dox replied, smiling.

"I sacrifice Kaiser Seahorse,-"

The blue and purple aquatic monster began to glow with an ominous dark aura.

"In case you did not know, when you are summoning a LIGHT attribute monster, Kaiser Seahorse's sacrifice counts as two instead of one!" Dox explained to the Slifers dueling them. "Which means I am allowed to summon Sanga of the Thunder!"

The duelists and audience watched as a tall, brown monster in the shape of a torso with a pair of clawed arms to match rise up onto the field. It had red armor and a brown head with a kanji embedded into it's forehead, with little eyes that seemed to be glaring down at it's opponents. It had 2600 ATK.

"Okay, so we got a monster that looks like a pair of legs, a monster with a pair of arms, now we got a monster that looks like an upper torso." Ken listed off, looking at each of the monsters on the Paradox Brothers' side of the field.

"Now what?" asked Chris.

"Find the rest of their body parts?" joked Rakaia.

"No need, they're all right on the field." Ms. Lake announced, scowling.

This statement caused the four beside her to slowly turn towards her, dreading to know what that meant.

"Now I place those odds at 500 to 1." said Bastion.

"What are the odds of you being quiet?" asked Alexis.

Bastion realized that he was doing it again, and returned to spectating the duel.

"Three monsters on our side, what could be better?" asked Para.

"I know, brother! When they come together!" replied Dox.

"Prepare yourselves, I sacrifice Suijin, Kazejin, and Sanga of the Thunder, so that I can summon the ultimate monster, Gate Guardian!"

The three monsters on the two brothers' side of the field came together, and the kanji marks on them began to glow brightly, blinding most of the people in the arena.

"What's going on now?!" asked Auron.

"They're combining their powers!" replied Red Eyes Black Dragon.

"I take it that's not a good thing!"

"Not when you're facing a monster as strong as the Gate Guardian!" Beast of Talwar stated.

_"'Gate Guardian'?"_ Auron thought, looking at the fiend, confused.

The light finally faded, and now a monster, that looked like the previous three monsters resting on top of one another, appeared onto the field, towering over Jaden, Syrus, and their monsters. He had 3750 ATK.

"'Gate Guardian'?!" gasped Syrus.

"He's ginormous!" exclaimed Jaden.

"Just wait until you see his attack," announced Para. "Go, destroy Steam Gyroid! Tidal Surge Attack!"

The massive giant began combining the three elemental powers he was bestowed with to create a current of water, wind, and lightning that shot at Syrus and his monster like it came out of a cannon, and sounded like it too. The attack washed over the Steam Gyroid, which gave a steam whistle-like howl before it shattered to pieces. Syrus was left taking the remainder of the attack, and his and Jaden's life points dropped down to 6450.

"This isn't a duel, it's target practice for the Paradox Brothers." Bastion commented, gravely. "And Sy's the bulls-eye."

"He's just made a few bad moves, that's all." Alexis defended the blue-haired Slifer. "He'll turn things around, at least I hope he does. Jaden's good, but he's not good enough to win this thing by himself."

"I know it hurts,..." Para started, crossing his arms over his chest.

"And that bad news is, it'll get worse." Dox finished, doing the same.

"If it gets as bad as this rhyming, then we'll be in serious trouble." moaned Syrus.

Meanwhile, Dr. Crowler was enjoying the duel even more, now that Jaden and Syrus had taken a hit to their life points.

_"These two are dueling perfectly, they know just what to do and how to do it!"_ he cackled, inwardly. _"After all, in a tag duel, should one destroy the weakest link, the whole chain comes crumbling apart, and they certainly found just that! Little Syrus! Poor, little Syrus, he would be the weakest link in a plate of sausages!"_

_"Aw, man, I hope Jaden's got something special in that deck of his, or this match is over!"_ Syrus thought, looking over at Jaden. _"And so will our lives the Academy!"_

"Well, the bigger they are, the harder they fall!" Jaden declared, suddenly. "Let's take this thing down!"

Syrus looked at him, stunned, while Para began to laugh.

"I can't wait to see you try!" he said, setting a card in his Spell and Trap card slot. "So I will end my turn with a facedown card!"

"Then it's time to go to work!" said Jaden. "Here goes!"

He drew a card from his deck, and looked at it, smiling.

"Sweet!" he exclaimed.

The E-Hero duelist then looked at the cards in his hand.

_"Alright, you're getting called up, big guy!"_ he thought.

"First I'm gonna summon up the Elemental Hero Clayman!" announced Jaden.

He placed the card down onto his dueldisk, and the clay-armored superhero rose up onto the field beside his comrade. Then Jaden held up another card.

"And next I play Polymerization!" he announced. "Now I'll fuse the Clayman and Burstinatrix to create the Elemental Hero Rampart Blaster! He's bad!"

After disappearing into the vortex, the two Heroes re-emerged onto the field in their fused form. A heavily armored version of the Clayman, but with a red and yellow shield, a pair of shoulderpads, with what looked like handles on top of them, and a flame-pattered helmet on it's head, with the face looking similar to Burstinatrix's. He had 2000 ATK and 2500 DEF.

"Hello." whistled Chris.

"Not bad at all." commented Sega.

"Alright, now they've got some defense!" cheered Rose.

"Yeah, he's bad, but not as bad as that Gate Guardian." Syrus reminded his partner. "He only has 2500 DEF pts., that Guardian's ATK pts. are at 3750. Blaster'll get blasted!"

"Don't sweat it, that's what his special ability is for, Sy!" Jaden explained, smiling still. "See, when he's in Defense Mode, the Rampart Blaster can attack the opponent directly!

The Rampart Blaster then raised an arm, with what looked like a turret gun attached to it, while the Paradox Brothers gasped in shock.

"Our life points!" they yelped.

"Go, Rampart Blaster!" shouted Jaden. "Blast them with Rampart Barrage!"

Several bullets shot out from the monster's arm, and struck both of the brothers, dropping their life points by 1000, leaving them with 7000 remaining.

"Sure, it's only half of the points you'd normally lose," said Jaden. "But hey, it's a special effect. What're you gonna do?"

"A lucky move..." growled Dox.

Syrus then looked over at his roommate/partner, smiling.

"Alright, we're back in this thing!" he cheered.

"Sy, we were never out of it!" Jaden told him.

_"Yeah, Jaden was right, we can win this!"_ Syrus thought, turning to look back at the Paradox Brothers.

"It's my draw now." Dox said, drawing from his deck. "I'm activating the Equip Spell card Fairy Meteor Crush, and I'm equipping it to the Gate Guardian!"

He placed the card into his dueldisk, and it's hologram form flew in front of Gate Guardian, and melted into him.

"Now when the Guardian attacks a monster in Defense Mode, the difference between his ATK pts. and your monster's DEF pts. are dealt straight to your life points!" declared Dox.

"Not so fast, you're forgetting that I have a facedown card out!" Syrus interrupted, before thrusting out his hand before him. "I'm activating Mystical Space Typhoon!"

His set card flipped up, and a hurricane shot out of the card, and took aim at Gate Guardian.

"It destroys one Spell or Trap card, and I'm gonna use it on the one you just played!" the Vehicroid duelist announced. "Fairy Meteor Crush!"

The hurricane extended a little more, aiming to do it's job, but then Para stepped in.

"Right into my Trap!" he announced. "I activate Judgement of Anubis!"

Syrus gasped, his eyes going wide once again.

"Foolish boy, this lets me stop your little Spell by simply discarding one card!" Para explained, to Syrus' annoyance. "Your Typhoon has just been downgraded to a cool, Summer breeze. Observe!"

He placed one card into his graveyard slot, and the whirlwind from Syrus' card quickly faded away.

"But wait, that's not all it does!" Para continued, as his card lit up again. "Anubis also destroys one of your creatures!"

"And then it's ATK pts. are dealt back to you." Dox further explained. "Pretty cool special feature."

A gust of wind had blown at the Slifer duelists, as the Elemental Hero Rampart Blaster was destroyed. The wind died down, and their life points dropped down to 4450.

"I know it feels like we have your backs to the wall, but in fact, the wall's right in front of you!" Dox further taunted them, as he placed a card onto his dueldisk. "I play this to end my turn!"

A massive, gray stone wall appeared onto the field, with a face in the second row of bricks, and two pairs of stone arms crossed in front of it in a guarding stance. It had 2100 DEF.

"It's called Defense Wall, and as long as it's on the field in Defense Mode, all the monsters you have can only attack him!" declared Dox.

Dr. Crowler could only smile and giggle excitedly, feeling that there was no way out for the two Slifers now. Even Bastion couldn't help but feel the same way.

"The Gate Guardian on offense, and that Wall on defense." he observed, thoughtfully. "Almost flawless."

"I get it!" Alexis snapped, turning to him. "Now are you going to be quiet, or should I move?"

"Yeah, just whose side are you on here?" agreed Jessi.

"We're here for Jaden and Syrus, not to give props to the enemy!" Sega reminded the Ra Yellow genius.

Bastion simply held up his hands in a defensive gesture.

"So sorry for being a good sport." he muttered.

"Be a good sport when two of our friends are still not out of the woods yet." Ramon told him.

Back down on the dueling stage, Syrus' turn had come, but he was too nervous to make a move.

"It's your turn, what are you waiting for?" asked Dox.

"Uh, to be honest, a miracle." replied Syrus.

He drew his card, and frowned at it.

"I summon Cycroid, in, uh, Defense Mode!" he called.

An orange bicycle-like monster with one eye between the handlebars, and brown fists attached to either end of the handlebars appeared onto the field with 1000 DEF. Syrus ended his turn there, and felt Jaden staring at him.

_"Jaden's looking at me, I can feel it."_ the shorter Slifer thought, miserably. _"I know it was a weak monster, but it was the best I could do."_

Behind him and Jaden, Hailey felt pretty bad for her friend. Syrus was losing his confidence with every time the Paradox Brothers countered his moves.

_"Hang in there, Sy."_ she thought.

"All he needs is a good enough push." Chris spoke, thoughtfully. "Either that, or a confidence boost."

"Well, whatever comes first, it better happen fast." Ms. Lake reminded him. "Or they're going to lose."

Meanwhile, Para had just started his turn.

"You summon a bike?!" he scoffed, drawing his card. "Well, it's in for a major flat! Gate Guardian, Tidal Surge Attack!"

The massive monster sent out it's triple threat elemental blast once again, and destroyed the Cycroid effortlessly.

"And don't forget the effects of the Fairy Meteor Crush I have him equipped for!" Para reminded the Vehicroid duelist.

Syrus raised his arms in front of his face just as the Gate Guardian sent out it's attack once again. He let out a yell as he was hit.

"The difference between my ATK pts., and your DEF pts., you take as damage!" announced Para.

The two Slifers' friends could only watch as Syrus was hit, unable to do anything to help. Syrus and Jaden's life points then sunk down to 1700 as Syrus fell to one knee, panting.

"Your life points are falling!" declared Para.

"Your gameplay is appalling!" added Dox.

"There is nothing to be done except give up and start bawling!" the two shouted together.

Jaden's turn finally came, but he did not move. Instead he just stood there, motionless, and his bengs overshadowing his eyes.

"Attention, Jaden Yuki, it is your turn!" the man over the P.A. spoke. "You must make a move, or you will be disqualified!"

Jaden did not move still, much to the surprise of his friends. The Duel Spirits, now all back over by the five other duelists sitting by the doorway, also appeared to be worried.

"What's he waiting for?" the Red Eyes Black Dragon asked.

"Maybe he's got stage fright." shrugged the Beast of Talwar.

Winged Kuriboh looked up at him and hooted several times.

"Kuriboh's right." Auron told them. "Be patient."

"'Be patient'?!" snapped Red Eyes Black Dragon. "If Jaden doesn't move now, they're automatically expelled!"

Meanwhile, back in the bleachers, Bastion was giving his two cents about the situation his friends were in.

"Well, it's two monsters to none, that's a simple calculation to figure." he spoke. "They'll be knackered."

"Nice, Bastion, now you're dogging them in words I don't even understand!" scolded Alexis.

"'Knackered' actually means-" Matt began.

Alexis shot him a glare, which made him stop talking and face forward again.

"Come on, guys, we have to believe that Jaden has a strategy!" she told her friends.

"Oh, we're certain that he does. It's Syrus we're all concerned about." Bastion told her. "He's walked into every Trap, Spell, and attack the Paradox Brothers have played. He's been horrible."

"You know, on second thought, I liked it better when I couldn't understand what you were saying."

"Oh, sorry."

"Bastion, maybe you should watch, not commentate during this duel." Laura said, looking at the teen genius.

Elsewhere in the arena, Rose and Chumley were staring down at the duel, mentally praying that their friends would pull through.

_"Oh, please, let them win!"_ Chumley begged in his mind. _"Let them win! I'll give up grilled cheeses for a week, I'll just fry them instead!"_

"Hang tough, guys." Rose whispered, folding her hands together before herself.

"Yeah, go, team!" Chumley agreed, outloud.

Meanwhile, several seats below, Chazz was laughing at the predicament the two dueling Slifers were in.

_"Finally, those Slifers slackers are getting the beatdown they deserve!"_ he thought, gleefully. _"I can't 'til they lose and are kicked out of Duel Academy! Especially Jaden!"_

Topher and Conklin looked over to see their "boss" was acting a bit off, and stared at him, concerned.

"Chazz, you alright?" Topher asked, slowly.

Chazz ignored him, and continued to rant inwardly, while he clenched one fist with his free hand.

_"That slime! Thinking he was going to be the next King of Games! No way, that's my destiny! Especially since he's about to be expelled!"_ he ranted inwardly, before looking over at the five seated on the ground floor by the doorway. _"And that other Slifer slime, and that loser with the game deck, I'll get you both eventually! Rakaia may have won, but that was because his partner was an Obelisk Blue, and mine was another Slifer rat. Then there's you, the kid with that video game deck, we'll duel soon enough, and I will take you down."_

And with Dr. Crowler, he was still giggling madly at the fact that Jaden and Syrus were losing. He was enjoying every single moment of it.

"I'm a genius! A pure genius!" he laughed, keeping his voice down. "First I land them deep inside the Abandoned Dorm, then I arrange these Trials duels as punishment, then I hire the best duelists to make sure they get expelled!"

_"I may have failed to get Erin and those four kids expelled,"_ Dr. Crowler thought, throwing his head back as he laughed some more. _"But I've managed to save my best team for last!"_

"So, Crowler, enjoying the kids' punishment a little too much, are we?" Chancellor Sheppard's voice asked, suddenly.

The Ancient Gear duelist immediately calmed down and collected himself before responded.

"Oh, my, no! You misinterpret!" he defended himself. "I'm just laughing because I'm happy the duel is nearly done, after all, our poor students look oh-so weary, having watched four duels now today. I'm thrilled these two boys' suffering is nearly through."

"Oh, it doesn't look like they're suffering so much to me."

Chancellor Sheppard then pointed at Jaden, which caused Dr. Crowler to turn around to look at the Slifer student also.

"In fact, it looks like Jaden's getting his second wind!" the former stated.

Jaden lifted his head up, opening his eyes as he did so.

"Well, well, the Slifer Red forges ahead," observed Para. "When a smart duelist..."

"Would have fled!" Dox finished.

"Oh, man, I'm starting to wish the Academy made us Slifers orange," groaned Jaden. "Then we wouldn't have to put up with these awful rhymes."

This irritated the Paradox Brothers, who glared and growled at him. The Winged Kuriboh then appeared beside Jaden's shoulder, hooting at him.

"I know, I don't think they got it either." Jaden responded to his partner.

"Forget about our rhyming,..." Para told him.

"Just focus more on your card-playing." agreed Dox.

"For the partner you have,..."

"To win, you have a long way!" the two brothers said at the same time.

Jaden looked over at Syrus, who was looking a bit worried again. Syrus looked back over at his partner, nervously, and saw him smiling back at him.

"Don't you listen to them, Sy, okay?" asked Jaden.

"But they're right!" Syrus argued.

"They're not right, Sy! I know because you're going to take that thing down!"

Syrus gasped, amazed that Jaden had so much faith in him. Then Jaden began his move.

"So, let's go!" he shouted, drawing his card. "First, I summon Elemental Hero Sparkman in Attack Mode!"

He placed a card onto his dueldisk, and the electrical hero emerged onto the field in a burst of lightning. Then Jaden held up another card.

"And then next, I'm gonna equip him with this, Spark Blaster!" he announced, as it went straight into his Spell and Trap card slot.

The gun-like weapon appeared in the Sparkman's hand in a flash of light, and several wires then hooked up to his arm as he gripped it.

"Now with each blast fired, I can change the battle mode of one of your monsters," explained Jaden. "And I'll start with Gate Guardian! Take a knee!"

Sparkman fired a shot from his Blaster, and it struck the massive monster with a beam of energy.

"You're going into Defense Mode!" declared Jaden.

As he said this, the Gate Guardian was forced into a guarding stance, with 3400 DEF to his name.

"Well, that was certainly an odd choice." Bastion commented, as he and the others looked down at the field. "Unless Jaden has something planned, I'm afraid he's wasted his move."

"You must be a fool!" said Para. "When Gate Guardian's on defense, he never tires! Your situation's just as dire!"

"And though I hate to feed the fire," Dox threw in. "The Defense Wall we played you have yet to retire!"

Jaden rolled his eyes, and placed a card into his dueldisk's Spell and Trap card slot.

"Great, thanks." he said, sarcastically. "I'm just gonna throw down a facedown now, and end my turn."

Syrus began to groan now, since that meant his turn would be coming up again soon, but not until Dox had finished his move.

"Fine then. My draw!" Dox said, drawing his card. "I'll just place one card facedown. No more, no less."

He placed a card into his Spell and Trap card slot, which reappeared behind the Defense Wall. Then Dox turned to look at Para.

"Brother?" he called. "You do the rest."

Para nodded back at him.

"Excellent decision," he agreed. "I think it's for the best. For I'm quite sure that next turn, I'll win us this contest."

Syrus then began to look more and more nervous than before. He looked back up at Jaden, who just stared ahead.

"Aw, man." he sighed, miserably. "Jaden, you heard them. Next turn, they're gonna take us out! There's no point to me even drawing. I should just give up, maybe they'll at least let you have a rematch then."

"Syrus, listen to me!" Jaden told him.

Syrus looked back up at his friend, waiting to hear what he had to say.

"One draw, that's all it takes to turn the tide of an entire duel!" Jaden reminded him. "You remember last time you had one draw, right?"

Syrus nodded, thinking back to a practice duel they had the other day.

Flashback- Yesterday- Jaden, Syrus, Chumley, and Rakaia's room-

_"You'll never get out of this!"_ _laughed Jaden._

_"Yeah, I give." said Syrus. "Let's have a rematch!"_

_He and Jaden were sitting on the floor, having a practice duel, with Chumley, Rakaia, Chris, and Pharaoh as spectators. Chumley sat on the floor by the window, while Chris sat on the desk, and Rakaia sat in the chair, with Pharaoh on top of the rafters in the room._

_"But first, let's see what I would've drawn!" said Syrus. "And it's..."_

_He drew the top card of his deck, then smiled._

_"Whoa! This changes everything!" he exclaimed._

_"Yeah, well, it doesn't change the fact that you already gave up the match though, right?" Jaden asked, a bit nervous._

_Syrus then began laughing, along with the rest of the spectators._

End Flashback-

"You hear what I'm saying, Syrus?" asked Jaden. "There's no such thing as a last draw because with the right card, you can always get another draw!"

"But-" Syrus began.

"No 'buts' about it! Make your move, pal! I know you can do it, Sy, it's all up to you!"

Syrus began to feel more overwhelmed now by the pressure being put on him.

_"I know, Jaden,"_ he moaned, inwardly as he began tearing up. _"That's what I'm afraid of!"_

The Vehicroid duelist then took a deep breath, and tried to calm himself down.

_"Aw, man, Jaden said my one draw could keep up from losing this duel,"_ he thought to himself. _"But the only way we won't lose is if I beat that Gate Guardian!"_

Then suddenly his eyes widened, as if in realization, and he gasped. The smaller teen's eyes narrowed, as he looked down at his deck.

"Of course!" he gasped.

Flashback- The other day-

_Syrus was in a duel with Chumley with Jaden and Pharaoh as spectators this time. Jaden was sitting beside Syrus, when he was staring at his friend's hand._

_"Whoa." the E-Hero duelist said. "That card is sweet!"_

_Syrus, who had drawn a card to begin his turn, looked up at his roommate, confused._

_"With the right combo, we can beat anything!" said Jaden. "So, can I have it?"_

_Chumley watched as his two roommates began arguing about the card that Jaden wanted that Syrus wasn't exactly eager to give up._

_"Oh, come on!" pleaded Jaden._

_"No way!" yelled Syrus. "You always do this!"_

_"No, I don't!"_

_"Remember my Cherubin?"_

_"It was already bent!"_

_The two went back and forth for a while, with Syrus not giving in anytime soon._

_"Please?" Jaden begged, clasping his hands together._

End Flashback-

Syrus looked down at his deck, and wondered.

_"That's it!"_ he thought. _"That one card is the only chance we have, but if I don't draw it, we're done! Jaden and me, all our hopes of becoming the best! Everything we've ever dreamed about! Our fun, our friendship, our future, it'll all be over!"_

The young Slifer student shut his eyes tightly, as he moved to draw his card to start his turn, then he opened his eyes once again, a brave look on his face.

"Alright, here it goes!" he called.

Syrus drew his card, then looked at it. His face lit up immediately, then he looked over at Jaden, smiling.

"Jaden!" he called.

Jaden looked back at him, and saw the smile on his partner's face, which meant only one thing.

"Sy, you got it?" he asked. "Well, then, show 'em the drill!"

The Vehicroid duelist beside him nodded, then held up his card, ready to use it.

"Alright, I summon Drilloid in Attack Mode!" he declared.

After placing his card onto the dueldisk, a purple and white cartoon-like vehicle rose up onto the field, with the drill on it's nose whirring madly. It glared at it's foes, as the drills on either of it's hands and nose continued to spin. It had 1600 ATK.

"And guess what?" Syrus shouted, looking at the Paradox Brothers. "When Drilloid fights a monster in Defense Mode, it's automatically destroyed!"

This revelation caused the two brothers to stare at him in surprise.

"Aw, yeah!" cheered Jaden.

"So, open wide!" yelled Syrus.

The Drilloid then sped at the Gate Guardian at full speed with it's drill whirring still.

"Defense Wall!" called Dox.

The wall-like creature swiftly moved in front of it's ally, and took the hit as Drilloid chipped away at it, until the wall came crumbling down. Jaden and Syrus' life points then took a 500 pt. hit, leaving them at 1200.

"Those two must've forgot that Defense Wall automatically intercepts any attack." laughed Chazz.

"A nice try." Para admitted, smirking.

"But not nice enough!" said Dox.

"Gate Guardian still stands!"

"Despite your best stuff!"

"But that wasn't his best stuff!" Jaden interrupted. "Right, Sy?"

The two Paradox Brothers' eyes stared at him in confusion, before turning to Syrus.

"Yep, but now that your Defense Wall is rubble, you'll get it!" declared Syrus. "Well, a certain monster will anyway!"

Now all eyes were on him, waiting to see what move he had planned next. Then Syrus placed a card into his Spell and Trap card slot, while keeping his eyes on his opponents.

"I activate the Spell card Shield Crush!" said Syrus.

The card then rose up onto the field in it's hologram form.

"That's right, and just like the name says, it destroys any monster that's trying to hide in Defense Mode!" the Vehicroid duelist continued. "Just like...Gate Guardian!"

He pointed at the monster for dramatic effect, and the audience and the duelists watched as a surge of green energy shot out from the Spell card and struck the Gate Guardian. Within seconds, bits of the monster began being blown away, until it was totally demolished. The Paradox Brothers could only stare in complete shock.

"Gate Guardian is cooked!" exclaimed Para.

"I can hardly look!" cried Dox.

Jaden then cracked a grin at the sight of their opponents.

"Nice going, Sy!" he cheered. "The bigger they brawl, the harder they fall!"

Syrus smiled back at him, proud of his accomplishment. Meanwhile, cheers began breaking out all over the arena.

"Nice work, Sy!" shouted Rakaia.

"Dude, Sy just went all Terminator on that big lummox!" exclaimed Ken.

Hailey then turned to Chris and the two double high-fived each other, laughing excitedly. Meanwhile, the Duel Spirits were cheering in their own way also. Winged Kuriboh was squealing happily as he cheered for Syrus, while Red Eyes Black Dragon, Buster Blader, and Athena were yelling cheers of their own, and Beast of Talwar and Auron just clapped for the shorter teen. Up by the railing above the bleachers, Chumley and Rose were cheering also.

"Fried cheese, here I come!" Chumley yelled, clapping his hands.

"Way to fight back, Sy!" Rose called down to her friend.

Several feet away, Zane's gaze seemed to have softened up after seeing his brother's move. Dr. Crowler, on the other hand, wasn't as thrilled or proud.

"No! This is supposed to be punishment!" he complained, infuriated. "And this crowd is treating them like heroes!"

Then, he rounded on his boss, who was cheering also.

"Chancellor Sheppard, tell me you're watching this!" he started.

"Yes, well done, Crowler!" responded Chancellor Sheppard. "These matches you set up are promoting teamwork and dueling fortitude! Fine job!"

Up in the bleachers, Bastion was staring down at the duel in complete surprise.

"Did you see that?!" he asked his friends. "Did you?! Tell me you guys saw that!"

"Bastion, we're all here sitting next to or around you watching our friends in the duel of their lives!" Alexis reminded him. "What do you think we're looking at? But you know what amazes me even more than them taking down that Gate Guardian? The teamwork that they used to do it with! That's what it's going to take to win this!"

"Yes, so let's hope that they can keep it up."

"Knowing Jaden, he'll make certain of that." said Taryn.

The group then looked back down at the duel, as Syrus was just finishing up his turn.

"'kay, now I'll play one card facedown and end my turn!" he said, placing a card in his Spell and Trap card slot. "Thanks for the peptalk." he added, looking at Jaden.

"Hey, thank you for the sweet move!" Jaden replied, shooting him a thumbs-up.

"Sure!"

"Mind if we join in on all the praise, you two?" Para interrupted.

"Because for destroying that monster, we should really..." Dox agreed, before pausing.

"Thank you." the two brothers said in unison.

Syrus then stared at them in surprise and confusion. Behind him and Jaden, Ms. Lake gave an exhasperated groan.

"Oh, God, what are they up to now?" she asked.

"Whatever it is, they better be ready for it." replied Hailey.

Para looked over at her and smiled.

"That's right. They say that what doesn't destroy you, makes you stronger." he explained, drawing his card. "And it's also true, after all...we haven't been destroyed, and we're about to become more powerful than ever!"

He held up the card he drew, which appeared to be a Spell card.

"Dark Element!" shouted Para. "This Spell card can activate whenever Gate Guardian is in the graveyard!"

Syrus gulped, knowing that this might be bad for him and Jaden. The Spell card appeared between the Paradox Brothers, surrounded by dark aura, which was then pulled into the graveyard.

"Now by paying half our life points, we can summon...a monster that can't be beat in battle!" Para announced, holding up a card.

"Dark Guardian!" he and his brother shouted.

A swirling vortex appeared onto the field, and a ray of light shot out from it. A giant man-like being dressed in a purple shirt and black armor and a matching armored helmet appeared onto the field with an axe in his hand. His torso was attached to a fiend-like creature with multiple, shrapnal-like legs. He had 3800 ATK.

"Invincible in battle, and has those ATK pts.?!" gasped Bastion.

"Whoa, mondo problemo." Ken muttered, leaning forward in her seat.

"This is bad." said Syrus.

"Now Guardian, attack Drilloid with Axe Slash Bash!" commanded Para.

The towering monster rushed over to Drilloid and made to cleave it in half.

"That's it!" Bastion yelped, jumping out of his seat. "If this connects, Jaden and Syrus will lose!"

"Jaden!" gasped Alexis.

"Oh, no!" Rose breathed, as she and Chumley stared with wide eyes.

"I can't look!" Hailey moaned, covering her eyes.

"Come on, guys!" Chris called, his fists clenching.

Zane just stared down at the duel, while Chazz watched, a grin on his face. The Dark Guardian swung his axe, and a surge of energy shot at Drilloid, causing another whirlwind to kick up.

"Farewell!" said Para.

"Not yet! I play my facedown, Hero Barrier!" Jaden yelled, as his facedown card flipped up. "Sorry, fellas, but this lets me stop one of your attacks so long as I have an Elemental Hero out, and as you can see, Sparkman is standing tall!"

A blue burst of energy shot out of his card, and intercepted the attack by morphing into an energy shield. All those in the room watched as the barrier and the attack cancelled each other out, and the wind died down once again.

"An impressive Trap card." commented Para.

"I never thought they'd be quite so hard." said Dox.

"I know. We bombard and bombard. Oh well, at least our precious Dark Guardian..."

"Has kept up his guard."

"Quite right, brother. He won't be blasted to shards."

"He will finish them off next turn!"

"And this duel will be ours!" the two brothers declared.

Syrus fell to his knees, disappointed.

_"Just when I step up my game, they step up theirs even more."_ he groaned inwardly.

Dr. Crowler began chuckling again, now that the Paradox Brothers had the upper hand once again.

"Here it comes, the moment that I have been waiting for!" he giggled. "The moment these two lose and get expelled!"

Jaden looked over at his tag partner, then faced forward once again.

"Chin up, Sy!" he encouraged his partner. "This match isn't over yet!"

"But Jay-" Syrus began, looking up at him.

However, Jaden would have none of it.

"'But' nothing, pal!" he interrupted. "Stand up!"

_"'Cause you'll want a good view for what I'm about to pull!"_ the E-Hero duelist declared mentally.

Syrus looked up at the Dark Guardian towering over him, Jaden, and their monsters, wondering how they were going to defeat him, and finally forced himself to stand back up.

"It looks like the boy still wants to proceed." Para said to his brother.

"Really? I thought surely for mercy that he would plead!" responded Dox.

"No, he would need smarts to know to concede."

Jaden glared at them, finally having had enough, as he drew his card.

"Can it, you two!" he snapped, before holding up the card he drew. "It's my turn! And I activate the Spell card Pot of Greed! This lets me draw two cards!"

The Slifer duelist discarded his card before moving to draw two cards from his deck. Then he held up his dueldisk a little and opened the Field Spell slot.

"And next, I'll play Fusion Gate!" Jaden continued, as placed a card inside. "With this card, I don't need Polymerization! I can summon all the Fusion Monsters I want, and I'm gonna start by fusing Elemental Hero Avian, Bubbleman, and why don't we throw Sparkman into the mix as well? All to create...wait for it,..."

The three monsters leapt into the air, then vanished into the vortex. Then the trio of Heroes turned into bursts of energy that began merging into one hurricane of power.

"Yeah! And there he is!" shouted Jaden. "The Elemental Hero Tempest!"

A tall man with spiky green hair and a visor resembling Sparkman's appeared onto the field in a massive whirlwind. He wore a sleeveless shirt and pants that resembled Sparkman's armor, with Avian's wings that now resembled Bubbleman's cape, and had a gun like weapon attached to his left hand while on his right hand were claws from Avian's costume. This new Hero had 2800 ATK.

"Interesting move." said Hailey.

"Very." agreed Chris. "That Tempest is a pretty tough card to take down."

Up in the bleachers, Bastion was thinking a similar thing.

"Fine creature," he admitted. "But it still can't beat their Guardian!"

"Bastion, just who's side are you on?" asked Alexis.

"Yeah, show some positivity!" agreed Jessi.

While she and the others argued with Bastion, Alexis couldn't help but pray that Jaden knew what he was doing.

"An impressive move, but it is useless, boy!" Para told his opponent.

"Have you forgotten about Dark Guardian?" Dox reminded the Slifers. "He's still deployed, and since in battle, he can't be destroyed!"

"Their beast is null and void!"

"'Void' this!" Jaden shouted, holding up a card. "Skyscraper!

The card began to glow, and the scenery of the field began to change until it became a night-time sky, and then buildings suddenly began shooting up from the ground.

"Ever hear that you should never play in a construction zone?" asked Jaden. "Well, it's true because now my Elemental Hero gets an extra 1000 ATK pts. because it's weaker than Dark Guardian!"

"What the...?!" Para and Dox gasped.

Elemental Hero Tempest's ATK then jumped up from 2800 to 3800, making it equal to Dark Guardian's strength.

"Now, Hero Tempest, attack with Powerhouse Plummet!" commanded Jaden.

The fused E-Hero flew up into the air, then dived toward Dark Guardian with the gun-equipped hand thrusted out before him, the attack collided, but the Dark Guardian still stood.

"Didn't I warn you?" asked Para. "In battle, he cannot be beat! Your Elemental Hero Tempest has been wasted! So just accept..."

"...your defeat!" finished Dox.

Jaden decided that he had better act fast, and then turned to Syrus.

"Sy, can you spare a card?" he asked.

"Sure!" Syrus replied, nodding.

"I use Tempest's special ability!"

Syrus' set card then suddenly vanished, much to the Paradox Brothers' confusion.

"Sorry, you guys!" Jaden said, smiling. "But so long as I banish one of our cards to the graveyard, Tempest isn't destroyed!"

The winged hero flew away from the colossal giant he was battling, and the wind died down once again. Both monsters then returned to their respective sides of the field.

"Nice work, wasting your attack there, slacker!" taunted Chazz.

Jaden's turn ended there, and several people began wondering about Jaden's move, not getting why he did that. Zane, however, knew what Jaden was up to.

"Clever," he mused to himself. "Just so long as Syrus knows what to do next."

Meanwhile, speaking of Syrus, he stood on the field, confused, then turned to look at his partner.

"Jaden?" he spoke.

"Hey, it's cool!" Jaden responded, grinning. "Trust me!"

Syrus nodded back at him, still unsure.

"Sy, this will all work out if you play the right card come your turn!" Jaden explained to him.

"If he has a turn!" stated Dox.

He drew a card from his deck, then immediately activated his facedown card, which flipped up.

"I play the Trap card One-on-One Fight!" the green clad Paradox brother shouted. "Though I am sure you would prefer to run and hide, this card forces both our strongest monsters to battle! So I hope your Elemental Hero Tempest is ready for a rematch!"

Jaden growled, knowing what this would mean. Dark Guardian dashed forward and hacked at the Elemental Hero, clashing with him once again.

"But why?!" asked Syrus. "It'll be a tie again! What's the point of attacking?!"

"I have my reasons." Dox simply replied.

"And they're sneaky ones," Alexis said, realizing the goal of the move. "For Tempest to keep tying Dark Guardian, Jaden would have to keep sacrificing cards!"

"And whatever edge they give him." added Bastion.

"Meaning, Dox is using Tempest's special ability to his advantage." Auron explained, stepping forward beside Ken. "That power of Tempest's, it's basically become a double-edged sword."

"Wow, sounds a lot more worse when you put it like that." Ken grimaced, rubbing the back of her neck.

"Which means Jaden will have to give up-" said Hailey.

"Well, I hate to do it, but I have no choice." grumbled Jaden. "Guess I've gotta get rid of Skyscraper!"

He raised his dueldisk up again, as the Field Spell slot opened. The card inside it vanished, and the buildings began sinking down, then disappeared, much to Syrus' disappointment.

"So, you saved your monster!" said Dox. "But that doesn't mean you saved your life points!"

A gust of wind blew at both Jaden and Syrus, as Tempest forced himself to remain in the air, and their life points dropped down to 200.

"That's all for me." concluded Dox.

"And next turn, I give you my guarantee,..." Para started, before stopping in mid-sentence.

"This duel will be ours, just wait and see!"

Syrus then began to feel the pressure growing on him, as his turn finally came. Then Jaden turned to him.

"Alright, Sy, remember what I said." he coached his partner.

"Oh, right!" said Syrus.

_"That this would all work out if I play the right card."_ he thought.

Then he gasped in realization.

"Got it, Sy?" asked Jaden.

"I think." Syrus replied, timidly.

He lowered his hand to his deck, preparing to draw.

_"'Play'. That goes back to what my brother was saying!"_ he remembered. _"About the difference between knowing how to use a card, and knowing how to play it. But do I know the difference?"_

The audience watched in anticipation as Syrus prepared to make his next draw, and nobody made a sound. All eyes were on him now. Then Syrus looked up at his brother, who stood behind the railing above the bleachers, looking back down at him, and thought back to a conversation the two brothers had before.

Flashback-

_"Hey, Zane?" Syrus called._

_He stood behind Zane, who had his back to him, his arms crossed over his chest._

_"What's the difference between knowing how to use a card, and knowing how to play it?" Syrus asked, looking up at his brother. "Aren't they the same?"_

_"That's something that can never be taught." Zane replied, looking over his shoulder back at his little brother. "Only learned."_

_Syrus looked back down again, and Zane turned around to continue his speech._

_"It takes a moment of pure clarity, when you see dueling on a different level." he explained. "The higher level. All the angles. All the moves. You won't think, you'll just act."_

_Zane then nodded at his brother, then turned, and walked away._

End Flashback-

Syrus' expression then became serious and determined.

_"Alright, enough thinking,"_ he decided inwardly. _"It's time for me to act."_

The Vehicroid duelist then placed his hand onto his deck, his fingers waiting to draw the card to start his turn.

_"No more thinking!"_ he told himself mentally. _"Time for action!"_

"Here we go!" Syrus said, looking back up at his opponents. "My draw!"

He drew his card, and looked at it, then gasped. It was Power Bond. He took another card from his hand, then held it up.

"Okay, first off I sacrifice Drilloid, to summon UFOroid!" announced Syrus.

The Drilloid disappeared in a flash of light, which was then replaced by a blue burst of energy, which rose into the air, to form a cartoon-like blue, silver, and green spaceship. It had 1200 ATK.

"And also, I activate the Spell card Power Bond!" Syrus declared, holding up his last card, while Jaden nodded at him. "It's a Fusion card, and I have just the two monsters to fuse! Jaden, do you mind?"

Jaden, of course, just smiled at him.

"Hey, what's mine is yours, Sy!" he replied.

"Then I merge UFOroid with Tempest!" shouted Syrus. "To create UFOroid Fighter!"

The Power Bond card began to glow with a white light, as it sent out a white lightning bolt which pulled the two monsters together. They disappeared in a flash of light, then when it faded, Tempest now appeared to be riding on a hovercraft, which looked almost similar to the UFOroid, but now had handlebars and rearview mirrors.

"And it gets better, his ATK pts. are the sum total of each of the individual monster's ATK pts.!" said Syrus.

UFOroid Fighter's ATK then shot up to 4000.

"It matters not!" Para told his opponent. "So stop your ceaseless prattle!"

"You know Dark Guardian cannot be destroyed in battle!" agreed Dox.

"Yeah, that's true, but it doesn't really matter!" Syrus retorted, grinning. "Because Power Bond has a special effect that doubles my Roid Fighter's ATK pts.!"

Para and Dox watched in horror as the UFOroid Fighter's ATK doubled to 8000.

"To make 8000?!" the Paradox Brothers exclaimed.

"Sure, Dark Guardian will survive the attack," said Syrus. "But it'll be a different story for your life points. Now, let's go! Roid Fighter, attack!"

The UFOroid Fighter aimed his blaster at Dark Guardian, and waited for the signal to fire.

"Cosmic Flux Blast!" the Vehicroid duelist commanded.

A blue laser beam shot out from the blaster, and rocketed over to the Dark Guardian. It pierced through his abdomen, like a Special Beam Cannon through it's victim, and struck the Paradox Brothers, eliminating their remaining life points instantly. The two brothers sunk to the knees while the holograms faded away, and the arena instantly broke out into cheers.

"Way to go!" yelled Chumley.

"Aw, yeah!" cheered Rose.

The two high-fived each other, laughing excitedly.

"Well, well, they've won!" said Bastion. "I'm getting more and more impressed every day!"

"I'm just happy Jaden gets to stay here." Alexis sighed, relieved.

"'Jaden and Syrus', you mean?"

Alexis then realized her mistake, and blushed.

"Well, yes, Syrus, too! Of course!" she spoke, trying to correct herself. "I just said 'Jaden', because I, uh,..."

"Yes?" Matt pressed on.

"We're waiting." Luna added.

Alexis then turned away, embarrassed.

"Moving on." she said.

"Oh, no, you're not getting out of this so easily." Sega told her. "You're going to tell us what you meant by that."

"I plead the fifth!"

"Lexi loves Jaden, Lexi loves Jaden,-" sang Bella.

"Shut up, Bella!"

"Denial's not just a river in Egypt." said Kenneth.

While Alexis was arguing with her friends about what she meant, Chazz got to his feet, angered that Jaden and Syrus won their matches also.

"I'm outta here!" he growled, leaving.

"Wait!" called Topher. "We're comin'!"

And down below by the rest of the Trial Duel participants, the five of them were cheering, as well, as most of the Duel Spirits.

"Yeah, we made it!" cheered Rakaia. "We all made it!"

Hailey and Ms. Lake were jumping up and down, laughing excitedly, while Chris and Rakaia were high-fiving each other, and Ken stood with her back against the wall, smirking at the two victors of the final Trial duel. Red Eyes Black Dragon and Beast of Talwar shook hands, chuckling happily, as Winged Kuriboh danced and hooted happily around his friends, while Buster Blader, Athena, and Auron clapped for the two duelists. However Dr. Crowler was far from happy about the victory.

"It can't be!" Dr. Crowler asked, stunned. "How'd they win?!"

The Ancient Gear duelist stumbled back onto the floor, disappointed that his "genius" plans had failed.

"It's not fair..." he moaned.

Then Prof. Banner walked over to him, with Pharaoh in his arms.

"'How'? Because of your superb teaching, of course!" he reminded his colleague. "Oh, wait, Jaden, Syrus, and Rakaia are in my dorm, and Hailey and Ken are in Ms. Fontaine's."

Then Pharaoh leaned over to lick the side of Dr. Crowler's face, causing him to back away,

"That furball just licked me!" screeched the Obelisk Blue headmaster. "Does he have rabies?! Show me his papers! Call the pound!"

Meanwhile, back on the field, Jaden walked over to Syrus, a smile on his face.

"Let it out, Syrus!" he said. "I know you cry when you're happy!"

"No way. Not the new Syrus." Syrus responded, tearing up.

He couldn't help it though, he raised and arm to wipe his tears as he broke down crying.

"Aw, there are some things that'll never change." sighed Jaden.

He looked to the side to see Prof. Banner, Chancellor Sheppard, Dr. Crowler, Ms. Lake, Rakaia, Ken, Hailey, Chris, and the Duel Spirits walking towards them.

"Well one thing that won't be changing is...your enrollment at the Academy!" announced Chancellor Sheppard. "You're all here to stay!"

Jaden and Syrus' expressions lit up, and they began cheering, right away, then Jaden looked over at his and Syrus' opponents, who were still on the ground.

"And you guys," he said, shooting them his signature salute. "Let me just say it was a great honor, and if you ever want a rematch, just holler."

"Well said, Jaden," Chancellor Sheppard chuckled. "And I'm sure it'll be even better written."

This caught Jaden off-guard, as he looked back at the school headmaster, surprised.

"That's right. I'd like a five-page report from each of you." Chancellor Sheppard told his students. "I want to read about all that you've learned by dueling your opponents, and how it helped you all realize that trespassing in the Abandoned Dorm was wrong."

"Talk about a bummer." groaned Jaden.

"How about ten pages then? And single-spaced, too."

With that, the Chancellor walked away, leaving Dr. Crowler standing where he was, frozen stiff.

"I'll make sure that they get it done, Chancellor." Prof. Banner promised.

"Wait, do we get a second option?" Rakaia called after his principal.

"Well, there's always some volunteer work." replied Chancellor Sheppard. "The school gym could use some cleaning, and some of the dorms could use a fresh coat of paint."

The seven Trial duelists looked at one another and came to a decision.

"We'll take the manual labor for 200, Alex." said Ms. Lake.

"Good, I'll send a list to your dorm headmasters, and you will all start tomorrow morning." Chancellor Sheppard told the seven of them. "Including you, Erin."

"Yes, sir."

Syrus looked up at the bleachers, and his eyes locked with his brother's. The two stared at each other for a moment.

_"I wanna think that I impressed you, Zane, that I dueled at a higher level. That I showed you that I could play a card, not just use it,"_ Syrus thought, as he looked from his Power Bond card, then back to Zane. _"But I know that I have a lot to learn, and a lot to live up to."_

Zane's expression finally softened, and a smile broke out on his face, then he turned and finally left. Syrus then looked back to seeing Jaden relieved about not having to write ten pages about his duel, and how much trouble he'd have writing them.

"Guess we better chill out and relax for the day," said Jaden. "Tomorrow, we work our butts off doing work."

"Who cares?!" yelled Chumley. "At least you're here to stay!"

He and Rose charged down the steps to join up with their friends, while the rest of the audience cheered them on. Jaden then turned and gave his signature salute.

"That's game!" he yelled.

* * *

Well, the Trial duels are officially over. As to why I've changed the punishment, it's for the next chapter. Next up,...you'll find out when the chapter comes. Warning, the next chapter comes with shenanigans. Shall we go over the disclaimers again? Of course we shall, and they've come with a new update.

Hailey Ryan is owned by Peach Wookiee, Luna Tenshi, and Crayus and Rakaia Meiyo are obviously owned by Rakaia The Dragon Duelist, Sega Rivera is owned by Sega herself, Will Rosen is owned by 15animefreak15, Laura is owned by Hyruleepona, Taryn and Jessi Yuki are owned by Dyusu, and finally Rose Renea is owned by maymay85985. As for my OCs, Ken, Matt, Kenneth, Chris, Bella, and Ramon, they're owned by me and my Duel Club familia, along with Tony Casimir, Ms. Erin Lake, and Underground Duelists Zero and Fang. Don't own the original series part of the plot, but I did tweak with it a bit. The main plot is owned by Kazuki Takahashi and everyone else who helped bring Yu-Gi-Oh! GX into this world. Robot Alchemic Drive is developed by Sandlot, and published by Enix, so I guess they own the game. The Meganite and Volgara cards are being posted up on Deviant Art. Final Fantasy is created by Hironobu Sakaguchi, and since I'm using Auron's appearance from the Kingdom Hearts II game, I'm adding a disclaimer for them, too. Kingdom Hearts series were created by Tetsuya Nomura and Shinji Hashimoto, both games series were developed by Square Enix, formerly known as Square before merging with Enix. Do not own Square Enix, or anything made, published, or developed by Square Enix.


	23. Peer Pressure

Ch.23- Peer Pressure-

Gym Class- Boy's Side-

It was several days since the Trial Duels, and things were back to normal. As normal as things could get at this school anyway. Moving on, it was gym class, and the boys were playing baseball in their gym. Jaden was batting for the Slifers, with his team, Syrus and Rakaia included, were shouting at him to score a home run for them.

"Jay!" Syrus called out to his roommate. "Keep your eye on the ball!"

"That could be tough," Jaden replied, grinning. "After all, the ball's gonna go over the rafters."

He gripped the bat in his hands, and waited patiently for the ball to come to him. Rakaia was standing on second base, ready to book it to home run if Jaden hit the ball hard enough.

"He'll score,...then Rakaia'll score,...then I'll score!" Jaden spoke, nodding to each of the Slifers on the bases. "We'll have a six-run lead!"

"Jaden, are you ready or not?" asked Matt. "My hands are falling asleep."

"Give me all that you've got, Matt-eo!"

Matt just stared at him, shaking his head slowly, then prepared to pitch. Then suddenly, he heard the familiar sound of his roommate and friend, Bastion, calling out to him and their other fellow Ra Yellows.

"Hold on!" Bastion shouted. "Time out!"

The students turned to see him rushing over to them. Bastion was dressed in his gym clothes, with a yellow cloth tied around his left arm, and he appeared to be ready to play.

"Where've you been?" asked Matt.

"Sorry, I was deep into some attack point quantum mechanics and lost track of time."

_"Do _not _ask questions, Matt."_ Matt told himself, mentally. _"Just nod and roll with it. Remember to Google what he said later."_

"Can you throw?" asked another Ra Yellow student. "We've had Rock pitching for a while now, and we need a fresh arm to pitch against Yuki there."

"Sure." replied Bastion. "Matt, your glove?"

Matt nodded and tossed him his pitching glove, then ran off of the field. Jaden pointed his bat at the Ra genius, and spoke.

"This is no written exam, Bastion!" he reminded his friend. "I hope you know what you're doin'!"

"Trust me, I've done all of the calculations." Bastion responded, calmly. "Now, get ready for some heat, Jaden. This one's coming in red hot."

Jaden gripped the bat in his hands, and prepared himself. Bastion smiled and reared back his hand.

"I hope you're ready for something with some bite!" he shouted.

The Ra Yellow let his hand fly and released the ball he was holding. It shot out like a cannon, and rocketed toward Jaden.

"Good arm." commented Rakaia.

Jaden ignored him and swung his bat. Nothing.

"Strike!" the umpire called.

The same happened the next two times. A swing and a miss, a swing and a miss.

"Nuts!" groaned Jaden.

"Jaden, I think the universe is trying to tell you something!" Rakaia told him.

"Yeah, don't get too overconfident over everything." agreed Syrus.

* * *

The ball had landed in Syrus', the catcher for the Slifers, hand for the umpteenth time.

"Ball!" shouted the umpire. "Take your base, Salvatore!"

The Ra Yellow, who was at bat, smiled and did just that. Syrus removed his headgear and called for a time-out. He marched over to the pitcher's mount, along with Rakaia and several other Slifers.

"Jaden, what's going on?" asked Syrus. "You got two outs, and now you walked the last three batters."

"Yeah, fess up, Jay," agreed Rakaia. "You were at the top of your game just a little bit ago, now you're playing like an amateur."

"Pretty slick, huh?" asked Jaden.

"Uh, slick?" repeated Syrus, Rakaia, and the other Slifers.

"How else would I get a chance to pitch Bastion?"

The brown-haired Slifer stood there smiling as his teammates stared at him.

"What?" repeated Syrus. "So then you walked all those guys just so you can get even with Bastion?"

"No, I don't want to just get even, I want to get ahead!" Jaden declared, pointing over Syrus' shoulder. "Hey, you hear that, buddy?!"

Rakaia turned to look at Bastion, who was now up to bat, while Syrus sighed.

"You're goin' down!" shouted Jaden.

"Down the base, perhaps." quipped Bastion. "Now then, give me your best, Jaden. I don't want to hear any excuses, after I wallop it out of the ball park,..."

He paused to let Syrus return to his catcher's position, then put his helmet on and readied himself.

"That is, if you can manage to get the baseball over the plate, of course." the Ra genius smirked.

"Game on!" growled Jaden.

"Game _over _soon!"

Jaden wound up his arm and chucked the ball forward with all his might.

"Now here's some bite for ya!" he shouted, throwing it.

As the students were playing, Dr. Crowler marched down the hall, and passed by the sports equipment, grumbling about how Jaden, Rakaia, and Ken passed their Trial duels, field tests, and beat the duelists he hired to scare them. While he was trying to figure out who could beat them, a small, hard force smashed into his face, knocking him off his feet.

"Uh, heads up!" a familiar voice called out.

Jaden, Syrus, and Rakaia headed over to their teacher, who rose back up from the pile of equipment, much to the Slifers' collective shock.

"You!" shrieked Dr. Crowler. "Well of course! Who else could cause such intense pain?!"

"Now that's keeping your eye on the ball." commented Syrus.

"Sorry." said Jaden. "It was-"

"My fault!" Bastion's voice rang out.

He ran down the steps, and stood by his Slifer friends, with Matt watching from behind the railing.

"I was the one who hit the ball!" admitted Bastion.

"Bastion?" Dr. Crowler spoke.

Jaden, Syrus, Rakaia, and Matt braced themselves for the ranting to begin, but it never came. Dr. Crowler stood back up, acting as if he was perfectly fine, and turned away from the students, smiling.

"Of course, here I was struggling to find a new accomplice and here it smacks me in the face!" he spoke. "Well, the eye actually, but that's really beside the point,..."

"Dr. Crowler, accept my apologies-" Bastion started.

The Obelisk Blue headmaster turned, refusing to hear it.

"_NO_! No, no, no!" he declared, gesturing him to stop. "I've been meaning to have my contacts refitted for ages, now I have the perfect excuse, and the perfect new protege..." he added, the last part he said to himself.

Jaden, Syrus, and Rakaia remained crouching where they were, trying to eavesdrop, but Dr. Crowler turned to glare at them.

"Alright, you three, you caused enough trouble!" he howled, angrily. "Now shoo! Shoo, shoo!"

After some more feral growling and snarling, the Slifers took off.

"Fine, but that was foul, Bastion!" Jaden said, leaving. "Bye!"

"Never mind those three. Slifer Slackers." Dr. Crowler continued, stepping closer to Bastion. "It's time you started consorting with those more your class, don't you think? It's time you start consorting with me."

A short time later- Classroom-

Ken and Hailey walked down the steps and made their way to their seats, where Chris, Kenneth, Ramon, Will, Sega, and Rose were waiting, and with some time to spare before class began. Kenneth took out his sketchbook and began working on some drawings, while Hailey, Chris, and Ramon each took out their homework and double-checked it to make certain the answers were right, and Ken, Will, Sega, and Rose were talking about the latest video game or manga crazes. However, they were rudely interrupted by a crumpled paper ball that was flung their way, hitting Ken in the head. She looked up to see Chazz grinning down at her, obviously being the one who threw it.

"You call the Slifers 'slackers', yet you're dumb enough to try and pick a fight with the school hothead?" Ken shouted up at him.

"Are you dumb enough to risk getting into trouble again for some payback, Geekazoid?" taunted Chazz.

Ken made to charge at him, but Hailey and Rose both grabbed each of her arms and held her back.

"Could you control yourself?!" Rose asked, exasperated.

"Ask a silly question, Rose,..." Hailey spoke up, as she tried to force the elder Obelisk female into her seat.

Chazz just laughed as he watched the two girls force their friend back into her seat, and sat in his own seat.

"That's right. I have more important things to attend to anyway." the Obelisk elitist student laughed, casually. "Yo! Foot rub, iced tea, now!" he added, nodding at a few other Obelisk boys standing nearby.

"Get it yourself." one of the Obelisk boys replied.

Chazz opened his eyes, confused, and glared at him and his two friends.

"What was that?!" he demanded.

"Doesn't he know?" one of the boy's friends asked.

"Guess not." the other replied.

"Know what?!" asked Chazz.

Just then, another Obelisk Blue male student walked over to him.

"Chazz, where do you think you're sitting?!" he asked.

"My seat." replied Chazz.

"Sorry, but that's not your seat anymore. Now move!"

"What are you talking about?! Of course this is my seat, it says so right here!"

He was about to point to the spot where it said that the designated seat belonged to Chazz, but it was no where to be seen. This completely shocked the spiky-haired teen.

"Sorry, Chazz," the boy said, in a non-sincere voice. "But you were moved way over there."

"No way!" gasped Chazz. "This is...all wrong! I don't belong over there with those losers!"

He looked down at Dr. Crowler, who had just walked into the classroom, and stood up from the chair.

"Dr. Crowler, tell everyone this is a mistake!" he pleaded, desperately. "Tell them I belong up here!"

"But you don't, and you haven't since you lost those duels to, oh, who was it now?" Dr. Crowler asked, rhetorically. "Ah, yes, I remember. Jaden Yuki and Rakaia Meiyo, a pair of Slifers!"

Chazz merely growled and looked down at his feet, a defeated look on his face, as the Obelisk Blue headmaster continued.

"Which is why tomorrow, you will duel Bastion Misawa, and if you lose to him as well, you two will switch dorms!" announced Dr. Crowler.

This revelation horrified Chazz, as he looked back down at the teacher.

"Whoa." said Sega.

"Harsh." muttered Will.

"You mean, I'd become a...Ra Yellow duelist?!" gasped Chazz.

"Yes, very good," Dr. Crowler cheered, sarcastically. "Now if only you could duel as well as you listen."

Most of the other students, from all three dorms, began to laugh as their stunned classmate bolted from the classroom. Chazz charged out of the school, as the laughter of his classmates echoed in his mind.

"I won't be a Ra!" he declared.

While Chazz rushed off away from the school and his mocking classmates, Dr. Crowler prepared to start his class.

"Now, everyone, please settle down, take your seats, and let class begin." he announced.

"But what about Chazz?" asked Hailey.

Her question was ignored, as the Ancient Gear duelist turned his back on the Fairy duelist. Then Ken rose out of her seat once again.

"Hey! The lady asked you a question!" she called, loudly.

Hailey and the others beside her turned to her, silently pleading and gesturing for her to stop, but the gamer duelist continued on anyways as the teacher turned back to glare at her.

"Take your seat, Ms. Warren." ordered Dr. Crowler.

"And I said the lady asked you a question, you whiny, fashion-impaired favoritist!" repeated Ken.

Dr. Crowler's glare intensified as the room went deadly quiet, and the others around Ken looked away, groaning.

"Game over." muttered Ramon.

"She's done." said Will.

"Ken, sit down and calm down!" Sega hissed, gesturing at the empty chair behind her friend.

"No, I'm sick of watching the guy embarrassing his students because he doesn't get his way." Ken snapped back, pointing at their teacher. "First Syrus, then Chazz, who the hell is next?!"

"Ms. Warren, to my office." Dr. Crowler replied, calmly.

The students' collective eyes all turned to stare at him as he smiled.

"Now." the teacher ordered.

Ken calmly picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulders, while her friends sighed.

"Nice one, hothead." whispered Chris. "You might end up in juvie yet again sooner than we all thought."

Ken paused as she turned to leave, and turned back to lean over to smack him upside the head, then left.

Later on- Ra Yellow Dorm- Outside-

"Alright, alright," admitted Jaden. "Maybe it wasn't a foul, Bastion."

"Jaden, over the center field fence usually isn't." Syrus reminded him.

"Yeah, every baseball fan knows that." said Rakaia.

The three Slifers followed Bastion to the Ra Yellow dorm, and then Bastion stopped to turn to his friends, holding up his bat for them to see.

"Look, I play like I duel." he told them. "With formulas."

Sure enough, mathematical formulas were written on the side of the bat, much to the Slifers' surprise.

"See, I find that science, statistics, geometry, they play a role in everything we do in life." the Ra Yellow student explained to them.

"Wow." breathed Jaden. "I never looked at it that way."

_"He's making this up."_ Rakaia thought, thinking about it.

"So, do you have a formula for everything, Bastion?" asked Syrus.

Bastion merely chuckled, and led his friends into the dorm, and then into his room.

"And here we are." he said, motioning for his friends to go in first.

"And where is that?" asked the Slifers.

"My lab, my workshop, my dorm room. Well, I share this with Matt Rock and Peter Salvatore."

To the collective surprise of the Slifer trio, the walls were covered in equations and formulas. Bastion stepped forward and nodded at one wall.

"That area is for Traps,..." he began, before nodding at the next formula-covered wall. "That's for Spell cards,..."

Then he nodded his head at the last wall.

"And that's, well,..." he finished, turning back to his friends. "You get the idea."

"Question, do you have-" Rakaia began, looking up at the ceiling.

"'Web powers'? I remember my roommates asking me that several times. They've even come to nickname me Spider Man or Peter Parker."

"Good, I'm not alone in this then."

Bastion chuckled and gestured to the walls.

"Most of these I've memorized," he explained. "And as you can see I'm running out of room, so..."

"So what?" asked Jaden, Syrus, and Rakaia.

Bastion held up a paint can and mop, with a friendly smile on his face.

"So, mind helping?" he asked.

Jaden looked at Syrus, then at Rakaia, and the three of them smiled and nodded at Bastion in agreement. Then at that moment, the door opened, and Matt and another Ra Yellow student walked in. The other Ra male had black messy hair and brown eyes, and he wore an open Ra Yellow blazer over a black shirt with a large yellow Starcraft II Terran symbol over it, and a pair of army camouflage cargo pants with a pair of black sandals.

"Ah, Matt, Peter, you're back." exclaimed Bastion.

"Hey, Bastion." greeted the other Ra Yellow student.

"And I see we have three more guests here also." observed Matt.

"Hiya, Matt." greeted Syrus. "And this is Peter, right?" he added, looking at the third Ra.

"Yeah. Guys, meet Peter Salvatore. Peter, this is Jaden Yuki, Syrus Truesdale, and Rakaia Meiyo."

Peter looked between the Slifers and nodded at them with a smile.

"What's up?" he greeted, cheerfully.

"Good to meet ya, Pete!" responded Jaden.

* * *

After moving the furniture and packing up some overnight bags, the six boys began getting to work scrubbing and painting the room clean. Jaden stood on a ladder, cleaning the ceilings, while Syrus, Rakaia, and Peter painted the walls, and Bastion and Matt scrubbed the floors.

"Check it out!" exclaimed Jaden. "I'm Michelangelo!"

"You'll be Picasso if you don't be careful!" warned Matt.

"But don't you get it? I'm painting on the ceil-"

Unfortunately, Jaden felt himself losing his balance on the ladder he was standing on, and the brush tumbled out of his hands as he tried to right himself. Matt quickly shot to his feet and grabbed onto the E-Hero duelist's arm, steadying him. However, Jaden was not out of the woods yet, as Syrus was struck by the paintbrush Jaden had accidentally tossed. The paint-splattered boy stood back up after being knocked down, and rounded on his roommate with an eerie stare.

"You do realize that this means war, Jay." Syrus declared.

"Uh-oh." muttered Rakaia.

"Bolt." Peter said, backing away.

Jaden got real nervous as he watched Syrus grin at him.

"Now, look, Sy, it was an accident!" he pleaded.

Bastion looked up to see what was going on, and saw Syrus picking up a can of paint. Matt moved to the side to join the other two boys as his roommate moved forward to play referee.

"That's enough!" Bastion ordered, sternly. "Give me that paint!"

Unfortunately for him, it ended up splashing him on the face, much to the other five boys' shock. The shocked glances then turned into amused expressions as they broke out into chuckles.

"Way to give it to him, Sy!" laughed Matt.

"Oh, my ribs!" Rakaia howled, holding onto his stomach as he laughed.

"Funny, is it?" asked Bastion.

Syrus, Matt, Rakaia, and Peter watched as he wiped some paint off his face with a rag, and then smack Jaden in the face with it, coating his face in paint. Jaden shook the paint off his face like a dog soaked in water, and grabbed a paint brush. He lunged at Bastion with it like it was a sword, and Syrus made to dump the paint on his roommate, but found it was yanked out of his hands.

"Makeover time, gentlemen!" Rakaia's voice called.

He dipped a paint roller in the can and rolled it over Jaden's head.

"Why you...!" Jaden started, rounding on him.

"Got'cha!" Matt shouted, as a rag flew forward.

Syrus was struck with the paint-covered rag, and fell down. Soon, an all-out paint battle royal began, with no one taking any prisoners. Later on, after the battle, and the job was finished, the six of them cleaned up, and changed into clean uniforms, then headed down to the Ra Yellow cafeteria. Jaden chuckled as he shoveled some more food into his mouth, and grinned.

"I don't think I've ever had such a good time painting!" he said.

"Yeah, but next time, let's do it in a paintball field...with paintball guns." Matt announced, smiling. "We'll all go sometime, maybe in the summer."

"That sounds sweet! You guys are alright, 'specially you, Bastion!"

"I'll say, and so is Ra Yellow's food." agreed Syrus.

Bastion, who was getting another tray from the cooks, turned back to them, and smiled as he went to join them.

"Oh, you flatter us." he spoke, politely. "But I'm sure it's not that much better than Slifer's."

The looks on Jaden, Syrus, and Rakaia's faces as Bastion set down a tray with a lobster inside told the Ra Yellow boys otherwise.

"Trust me, the closest we get to a lobster is our dorm cat's breath!" Jaden told the Ra Yellow genius.

Then something hit Syrus.

"Speaking of 'bottomdwellers', what were you talking with Crowler about back at the game?" he asked, curiously.

The other two Slifers, Matt, and Peter looked at Bastion, also interested.

"Actually, he wants me to test to be an Obelisk." replied Bastion.

"Are you serious?" asked Jaden.

"Is that why you were cleaning up your room?" added Syrus.

"'Cause you're switching dorms?"

Bastion hesitated, not answering his friends' questions. Rakaia, Matt, and Peter caught this look, and frowned a little.

"Well, you deserve it." Jaden announced, smiling. "Congrats, Bastion!"

"Again, you flatter me." Bastion said, humbly.

However, Jaden and Syrus wouldn't hear of it, reminding him of the Entrance Exam duel he was in, and declared his belief that Bastion would succeed. Bastion thanked them, and Jaden and Syrus dived into the lobster to eat, while Rakaia, Matt, and Peter glanced at their other friend.

_"Bastion, are you hiding something?"_ Peter wondered to himself.

Later that night- Obelisk Blue Boys' Dorm- Hallways-

Chris exited from his room, and made to go downstairs to see if the cafeteria was still open, as Matt would be staying with him, Kenneth, and Ramon for the night, and they would need some snacks. However, on the way down the hall, Chris heard a familiar voice talking, and also an unfamiliar voice talking, too.

"Got it, Chazz?" the unfamiliar voice spoke.

"Yeah." Chazz's voice responded, unenthusiastically.

"I can't hear you."

"I said 'yes, I understand'."

Chris pressed his ear to the door leading to Chazz's room, and listened closely.

_"What the hell is going on?"_ he thought, scowling a little.

On the other side of the door, Chazz was sitting on his couch, still in his school clothes, as he glanced at the large screen before him. Two men were displayed on the screen, each resembling Chazz a little, but more grown-up. One man had longer, well-groomed black hair, and a goatee, while the other man had shorter, also well-groomed black hair, and no facial hair. Both men wore matching expensive-looking dark suits, and frowns.

"Well, you had better." the older man stated. "The Princeton Brothers have a plan,..."

Chris' eyes narrowed a little as he listened closely.

_"'A plan'?" _he repeated, inwardly.

"Your brother and I are following through with our ends of it." the older voice continued.

"And you had better be following through with yours, Chazz." a younger male voice added. "Come on, just think of it, little bro. The world of politics, finance, and Duel Monsters, if we can control them all, then we will control the entire world!"

Chris stood up straight for a moment, pausing to try and wrap his mind around what he just heard, then shook his head and continued to eavesdrop.

"So, be the best." the younger male voice ordered.

"The future of the Princeton family depends on it." the older male voice reminded the teenager watching the screen. "It depends on you."

Inside the room, the screen had shut off, and Chazz breathed a frustrated sigh. He stood up and began walking towards the window.

_"'Be the best'?" _he thought, grumpily._ "How can I be the best with lucky punks like those out there?"_

The Obelisk Blue elitist watched as Bastion and Peter went to join Jaden, Syrus, and Rakaia, who were standing at the intersection in the path. The five of them appeared to be heading off down the path back to the Slifer Red Dorm.

_"What is this?"_ Chazz wondered to himself. _"Bastion and one of his buddies are heading off to the Slifer Dorm for the night?"_

Then the wheels in his head began to turn, as an idea popped into it.

_"Then his dorm room will be all empty."_ the Obelisk teen realized mentally.

He ran over to the door and opened it, then headed out, and froze up when he saw one of the other doors closing nearby. And quickly, too. Thinking nothing of it, Chazz continued walking down the hall, and headed down the stairs. That was when he saw Matt walking through the door into the lobby with a backpack on his back. Matt looked up at his fellow first year and smiled.

"Evenin'." he greeted.

"What are you doing here?" asked Chazz.

"I have friends in this dorm, and they offered to let me stay the night while my dorm room was aired out for the night."

Chazz shrugged at him, and walked down the steps past him, heading out the door.

"Okay, good night then." Matt muttered, as he headed up the stairs.

Slifer Red Dorm- Jaden, Syrus, Chumley, and Rakaia's room-

Syrus, Chumley, and Peter watched as Jaden and Bastion both snored away as they laid on Rakaia's bed. Rakaia was sleeping in Jaden's own bed, with a DBZ manga resting on his chest. Chumley looked from Peter to Bastion, and then back at Peter, then back at Bastion once again, nervously.

"Hey, Sy, what are a couple of Ras doing here?" he asked.

"They painted their rooms today, so we let them crash here." replied Syrus.

"But Syrus, they're Ra Yellows."

Peter looked up at the koala-looking boy, and appeared to be a little offended.

"Chumley!" Syrus scolded, quietly.

"What?" asked Chumley. "All I'm saying is what if that one wakes up, and they both decide to duel us? Or make fun of us? How do you know we can trust them?"

"Relax, Chumley. Peter's a polite guy, and Matt's real easygoing, and Bastion's cool. I mean, they let us eat at the Ra meal hall."

"Oh, well, either of them can have my bed if they want."

Outside- Nearby the Ra Dorm-

"What are we doing out here?" asked Auron.

"It's the middle of the night." agreed Athena.

The two Duel Spirits followed Hailey and Ken down the dirt path, having left moments ago. Ken walked behind Hailey, with her arms folded behind her head, while Hailey marched on in front of the other three with her hands hanging by her sides.

"You guys are here because we're here, and I'm here because Hailey's here," Ken replied, casually. "Hailey, why are _we_ here?"

"_I'm_ going to talk to Chazz to make sure he's alright." replied Hailey. "_You're_ here because after that little Abandoned Dorm incident, going alone anywhere doesn't sound like a good idea nowadays."

"Speaking of the Abandoned Dorm, what do you think happened to the two thugs Rakaia and I took down anyway?"

"Probably met the same fate as that Shadow duelist Jaden was fighting, or bailed from the island."

"'Thugs'? 'Shadow duelist'?" repeated Auron. "What are you two talking about?"

Athena looked up at him, remembering that he wasn't on the island yet when Titan, Zero, and Fang had come to duel Jaden, Ken, and Rakaia.

"I'll explain it to you later." she promised.

Hailey stopped in her tracks and held out an arm to stop Ken, Auron, and Athena.

"Stop." she whispered.

The four of them watched as a spiky-haired figure dashed down another road in the dirt path, then headed off towards path leading away from them.

"What's his hurry?" Ken wondered aloud.

Without warning, Auron began heading off after it.

"Auron!" Hailey hissed, following him. "Auron, wait!"

"Wait up!" called Athena.

The two Obelisks and their Duel Spirits chased after the figure until they reached the Ra Dorm, and hid in the bushes. Hailey peeked through the branches and got a better look at the mysterious figure. It was Chazz Princeton, and he was sneaking into the dorm.

"That's Chazz." she gasped.

"Chazz? What's that loudmouth doing here?" asked Ken.

They waited a moment, then watched as Chazz headed back out, then headed down the road away from his followers.

"Something weird's going on." muttered Hailey.

Later on- Early in the Morning- Slifer Red Dorm-

**KNOCK-KNOCK! KNOCK-KNOCK! KNOCK-KNOCK!**

Ms. Dorothy pounded her fist on the door to Jaden's room, a panicked look on her face.

"Jaden!" she shouted. "Jaden! Wake up!"

The door opened, and she found herself face to face with the brown-haired Slifer, and his roommates and friends.

"Oh, what is it, Ms. Dorothy?" asked Jaden.

"Yeah, you look pretty upset." agreed Peter.

"I was at the docks unloading some goods near the shore," explained the card shack owner. "Then I saw them!"

The boys in the dorm room stared, waiting for her to continue. Then Ms. Dorothy threw her arms to the side and continued.

"Cards tossed everywhere!" she exclaimed.

"Tossed?!" gasped Jaden.

"Surely you don't mean...!" moaned Rakaia.

The two Slifers looked at each other and nodded, then headed out of the room, with Syrus, Bastion, and Peter following them.

"Careful now, boys!" called Ms. Dorothy.

Jaden led his friends down the stairs, and off to the ocean, where they saw Ms. Lake and Rose standing nearby the pier. They headed over to them and saw what Ms. Dorothy was talking about. There were cards in the water, some of them the students easily recognized.

"That's Ring of Destruction!" gasped Jaden.

"And Vorse Raider!" Syrus pointed out, glancing at another card.

Peter reached in and grabbed a few cards, his eyes narrowing a bit.

"Bastion, have a look at this." he spoke, handing them to his roommate.

Bastion took them and frowned also. Jaden caught this, and realized the meaning of the frown before looking at all the cards in the water.

"Bastion, these are all your cards." he realized.

"It's my own fault," sighed Bastion. "This deck was in the desk I moved to the hallway yesterday when we were painting."

"Whoever threw these in the ocean is in serious trouble." declared Ms. Lake. "I mean, how low can you go?"

"No joke." agreed Rose. "Tossing a fellow duelist's deck, that's just wrong."

Syrus glanced at the cards, miserably.

"Who would do something like this though?" he asked, looking up at Bastion.

"Someone who doesn't want you to advance to Obelisk Blue, that's who." declared Jaden. "I mean, this was your deck, and it's totally ruined!"

All eyes then fell on Bastion, who seemed to be in thought.

"Oh, man, what in the world are you gonna do now, Bastion?" asked Jaden. "Your promotion exam is in less than an hour."

A short while later- Obelisk Arena-

"Bastion, you've made it!" Dr. Crowler exclaimed.

True enough, Bastion headed into the arena, with Jaden, Syrus, Rakaia, Peter, Rose, and Ms. Lake behind him, much to the doctor's disgust.

"Oh, and I see you brought some friends." grimaced the Obelisk Blue headmaster.

Unlike Crowler though, Chazz didn't mind the extra people in the arena.

"I hope you duel better than the company you keep." taunted Chazz.

"Wait a sec, Chazz is your test opponent?" gasped Jaden.

"Jay." Rakaia muttered, nudging him. "You don't think...?"

The other Slifer beside him nodded, understanding what he was getting at.

"Bastion, then he must've been the one that tossed your cards!" he declared.

"Pardon?!" yelped Dr. Crowler.

"You heard him, doc! Loud and clear!" yelled Rakaia.

"I don't know what they're talking about, Dr. Crowler." Chazz defended, calmly. "I didn't do a thing."

"Oh, is that so?!" a famiiar voice retorted.

The group looked over at the entrance behind the Slifers and Ras to see Alexis, Zane, Ken, Hailey, Chris, Matt, and Will walking into the arena also.

"Hey, guys." greeted Rose.

"You know something?" asked Syrus.

Alexis nodded at him, then looked back up at Chazz, angrily.

"I saw you, Chazz!" she announced. "This morning, by the water, you dumped them in and ran off! And Hailey and Ken mentioned you were in the Ra Yellow dorm last night, too!"

Chazz glared down at them, angry that he was caught, and Alexis continued on.

"I normally wouldn't snitch, and I doubt Hailey would either, but you don't mess with someone's deck!" she snapped.

All eyes then fell on Chazz, who tried to maintain his cool.

"Yeah, no joke!" agreed Jaden. "That's low for even you!"

"Aw, come on." Chazz interrupted, trying to maintain his innocence. "Who's to say I wasn't throwing away my own cards? I guess Bastion and I just have similar decks, that's all."

"Liar!"

"No one calls me a liar, and no one calls me a thief!"

Bastion stepped forward, deciding to put an end to the argument.

"Fine, then you're not!" he declared. "Let's just have our duel, shall we?"

The others glanced at him, confused.

"But how?" asked Jaden.

"A good duelist always has a spare deck." explained Bastion. "Or a few of them. After all, you saw all of my different formulas,...well, they were for all my different dueling decks!"

He unzipped his jacket and opened it, revealing a vest underneath with six dueling decks inside the pockets.

"And each one of them is as powerful as the next!" said Bastion.

Chazz stared for a moment, then snapped out of his gaze.

"Yeah, well you can go ahead and have your six stinking decks!" he snarled, holding up his own deck. "'Cause all I need is this one! Now let's start this!"

"I thought you would never ask, Chazz." agreed Bastion.

He got up on the stage and loaded his selected deck into his dueldisk, then activated it.

"You're just a problem to be solved, Chazz!" the Ra duelist shouted. "A theorem to be cracked! You're finished!"

"So bring it on!" challenged Chazz.

"DUEL!" they both called.

The life points meters shot up to 4000, and the duel began. Chazz started the duel, and drew his card.

"Hope you're ready, 'cause here comes the hurt!" he yelled. "I summon the Chthonian Soldier!"

The familiar tan-skinned knight dressed in dark armor emerged onto the field before the Obelisk male, and glared at Bastion.

"Then a card facedown!" Chazz finished, as a card appeared behind the Soldier. "And that'll do it for now!"

"Oh, will it now?" asked Bastion.

The audience on the sidelines glanced at him as he drew his card.

"Sounds like Bastion's got something up his sleeve!" mused Jaden.

"He works quickly." observed Alexis.

"I summon Hydrogeddon in Attack Mode!" declared Bastion. "Rise, Hydrogeddon!"

He slapped a card down onto his dueldisk's Monster card slot, and the card appeared onto the field like a Spell or Trap card would, then was swallowed up by a torrent of muddy water. Soon enough, the water began to take shape, until it took on the form of a beast. A beast with 1600 ATK.

"'Hydrogeddon'?" repeated Rose.

"A nice card with an even nicer ability." Will explained to her. "Watch closely."

"Now attack Chthonian Soldier with Hydro Gust!" commanded Bastion. "Destroy him!"

The Hydrogeddon opened it's mouth and a torrential blast shot out of it, rocketing towards Chazz's Chthonian Soldier. Chazz cringed as his monster was shattered by the blast, and his life points fell by 400, leaving him with 3600.

"Thanks! You just activated my Chthonian Soldier's special ability!" he shouted. "It causes you to take the same amount of damage to your life points that I did!"

"Not bad." commented Zane.

"Bastion sure walked into that one." groaned Jaden.

"Watch and learn, Jay." Will told him, smiling. "This is where it gets good."

Jaden looked at her, confused.

"I activate a special ability also." announced Bastion. "You see, Chazz, when Hydrogeddon successfully destroys a monster in battle, I'm allowed to immediately summon another Hydrogeddon from my deck. So, rise, Hydrogeddon!"

He took the card from his deck, and placed it onto another Monster card slot, causing yet another Hydrogeddon to appear onto the field beside the first one.

"I see your point now." said Jaden.

"And because my Battle Phase still continues!" Bastion reminded his opponent. "Which means I can now wage a direct attack against you, Chazz! So, go, Hydrogeddon! Hydro Gust!"

Chazz watched as the new monster opened it's mouth, and a torrent shot out from it, which headed straight for him. He yelled as it drew closer and closer, until it struck him, knocking him off his feet, and his life points down to 2000. Chazz stood back up and drew his card, as he glared angrily at his opponent.

"You'll pay for that." he threatened, as his facedown card flipped up. "I activate my Trap Card Call of the Haunted! With it, I can summon one monster from my graveyard, and the monster I summon is..."

"There's only one monster in his graveyard," said Ms. Lake. "So his only choice is-"

"That's right, the Chthonian Soldier!"

Purple lightning crackled onto the field and it materialized into said monster.

"Next, I'll activate the Spell card Infernal Reckless Summon!" Chazz continued, as another card appeared onto the field. "It allows us both to summon in Attack Mode any monsters from our deck, hand, and graveyard that are the same as the monsters we already have out on the field."

Two more bolts of purple lightning crashed down onto the field, and two more Chthonian Soldiers appeared onto the field beside the first one, while a third Hydrogeddon appeared between its fellow species.

"It makes no sense." Alexis spoke, confused. "It doesn't matter how many of those Chazz brings out, they still won't have enough ATK pts. to beat those Hydrogeddons."

"Not by themselves, they won't." Zane told her.

Jaden, Syrus, Rakaia, and Ken looked at him confused.

"Watch and learn, guys." Hailey said, nodding at Chazz.

"I activate the Equip Spell card Chthonian Alliance!" Chazz announced, placing another card in the center-left Spell and Trap card slot. "The monster equipped with this card gains 800 ATK pts. for every monster that has the same name as him! That brings his ATK power total to..."

He paused to snicker, as the Chthonian Soldier on his left became engulfed in an indigo whirlwind. The monster began to triple in size, and it's ATK became 3600.

"...well, you're the math nerd!" Chazz finished, grinning. "You can figure it out! Attack, Chthonian Soldier!"

The Chthonian Soldier dashed forward, and sliced through one of the Hydrogeddons, destroying it. Bastion cried out in pain, while his life points fell to 1600.

"Oh, no!" gasped Jaden.

"Bastion life points have gone down by more than half!" observed Syrus. "He's losing the duel!"

"No worries, it's not over yet." Ms. Lake told him.

"Bravo! Good show!" Bastion said, as he drew a card from his deck. "Good show! But it'll be short lived! Rise, Oxygeddon!"

He placed a card on his dueldisk, and a pale blue-green monster that resembled a pterodactyl emerged onto the field now. It had 1800 ATK.

"Now attack the 1200 ATK pt. Chthonian Soldier with Vapor Stream!" commanded Bastion.

The new monster opened it's mouth, and invisible waves shot out from it. One of the weaker Chthonian Soldiers shattered when the attack struck it, and was decimated on the spot. Chazz's life points sunk by 600, leaving him with 1400. However, Chazz wasn't too worried.

"Forget?!" he reminded his opponent. "When my Soldier's destroyed, you take the same damage as me! Some wiz kid you are!"

True enough, Bastion's life points sunk by the same amount, going from 1600 to 1000. Bastion seemed less worried than Chazz though.

"My turn's not through!" he declared. "Next, my Hydrogeddon attacks another of your Soldiers!"

One of the Hydrogeddons opened their mouth and a stream of water shot out of it, like a Pokemon using Water Gun. The aquatic blast struck the last weaker Chthonian Soldier head on, and the Soldier shattered like glass. Chazz's points took another hit, but this time they went down by 400.

"That damage is still all going back to you, loser!" Chazz barked, glaring at his opponent.

As the others watched Bastion's points dwindle down from 1000 to 600, a few could only watch, confused as to what Bastion was trying to accomplish here.

"Aw, man, why does Bastion keep attacking?" asked Syrus. "He's only hurting himself!"

"Nah, he's fine!" Jaden reassured him.

Syrus looked up at him, confused. He was lost here.

"It's strategy, Sy." explained Ms. Lake.

Syrus looked at her. Zane then decided to explain what was going on.

"She's right, Bastion's playing smart." he described, smiling. "The Chthonian Soldier with the Equipped Magic card has 3600 ATK pts., Bastion would have to summon an incredibly powerful monster to destroy him, unless, however,..."

Syrus looked at the field to see Chazz's monster growing weaker and weaker after the other two Soldiers were destroyed, then his eyes widened in realization.

"Wait, I see!" Syrus gasped, catching on. "Unless he takes out the other Chthonians, and lowers the big one's ATK pts.!"

"Right, Sy!" Jaden confirmed. "So if Bastion's gonna beat that thing, he's gotta give up some life points!"

Bastion smirked, thinking Chazz suffered enough for now, and took a card from his hand. He placed it into his dueldisk's Spell and Trap card slot, which reappeared in a set position on the field.

"Last, I'll place a facedown card," he finished. "And that will do for now."

"Will it?" asked Chazz. "I wouldn't be so sure, whiz kid!"

He drew a card from his deck to begin his turn, and wasted no time in making his next move.

"I'm sacrificing Chthonian Soldier, and all the cards in my hand, in order to summon Infernal Incinerator!" shouted Chazz. "Didn't see that comin', did you?!"

As he began to laugh crazily as a large fiery sphere appeared onto his side of the field, Bastion stepped back in shock, while his friends stared in surprise.

"'Infernal Incinerator'?!" he repeated.

"That doesn't sound good!" Will grimaced, looking at the sphere.

The sphere gave off one massive shockwave, before setting off an explosion. In seconds, the monster appeared on the field as the smoke cleared. It was a fiendish-looking, spiked lizard with bronze and black-trimmed armor, and riding on it's head was a humanoid creature whose torso was attached to the monstrous being, and it's wrists were chained on either side of the creature's mouth. It had 2800 ATK.

"Mondo problemo." Ken spoke, her eyes narrowing.

"That's putting it mildly, buddy." Chris told her.

"Better break out your calculator, because if you can't find a formula to beat this guy this turn, you're toast!" announced Chazz. "Especially since it's ATK pts. increase by 200 for every monster you have out on the field!"

The ATK of the Infernal Incinerator shot up by 600, due to there being three monsters on Bastion's side of the field, making it 3400.

"That thing has 3400 ATK pts.?!" yelped Jaden. "That means no matter which monster receives the attack, Bastion's finished!"

"Now, Infernal Incinerator, attack with Fire Storm Blast!" commanded Chazz.

The massive fiend monster opened it's mouth and fired a stream of flames from it. The others could only watch in shock as the attack drew closer and closer to Bastion's monsters.

"Bastion!" cried Jaden.

"Oh, no!" moaned Will.

Chazz grinned, waiting for the attack to hit, but unfortunately, Bastion was able to do something about it in time.

"I activate my Trap!" the latter declared. "Amorphous Barrier!"

The set card on his side of the field flipped up, and several crystal pillars shot up onto the field around Bastion's monsters. The flames struck it, but the pillars remained standing strong.

"When I have three or more monsters on my side of the field, this Trap negates my opponent's attack, and ends the battle." explained Bastion. "But nice try, Chazz."

"Aw, so what? One turn. That's all it buys you." Chazz reminded him, smirking. "Then you'll be all mine!"

"I'm afraid there won't be a next turn."

Chazz's smirk faded away into a glare quickly.

"What?!" he asked.

"You heard me!" shouted Bastion. "And I activate the Spell card Bonding H2O!"

"Oh, yeah, here we go!" grinned Matt.

"Bastion's bringing out the big guns now!" laughed Peter.

Jaden and the others on the sidelines looked at the two Ra Yellows to see them high-fiving each other. Did they know what kind of creature Bastion was attempting to bring out? They looked back up at the field, and watched as the two Hydrogeddon and the Oxygeddon became enveloped in two purple, misty tornados.

"I sacrifice two Hydrogeddon, and one Oxygeddon, and summon Water Dragon!" Bastion announced, as the three monsters disappeared.

A large blue torrent shot out from the ground, and stretched taller and taller, until an aquatic blue creature that looked like a dragon appeared onto the field with a mighty roar. It had 2800 ATK.

"And since the number of monsters on my side of the field decreased, your Infernal Incinerator's ATK pts. decrease!" Bastion pointed out.

"Doesn't matter," responded Chazz. "My monster's ATK pts. are still higher than yours."

"Better double check your work, because I've already done all the math!"

"'All the math'?!" Dr. Crowler repeated, shocked. "You mean that...?!"

"Bastion's had all this planned out since the very start?!" Jaden finished the teacher's thought.

"I've heard of thinking before you act, but this is ridiculous." Ken mused, scratching the back of her head.

A massive tidal wave of water rose up suddenly, towering over Chazz and his monster, and made to slam onto the Infernal Incinerator. Chazz watched as the wave crashed onto his monster with a yell, and Infernal Incinerator suddenly appeared to be looking worser for the wear. It's ATK fell to 0 within seconds.

"No, it's ATK pts.!" gasped Chazz.

"Indeed, that's Water Dragon's special ability." Bastion explained, smiling. "You see, when he's out on the field, the ATK pts. of FIRE attribute and Pyro-type monsters automatically become 0."

The others stared at him, most of them impressed by the move, and Chazz horrified as to what it had meant. This was game over for him.

"Now, Water Dragon, attack!" yelled Bastion. "Tidal Blast!"

The Water Dragon opened its mouth and fired a stream of water at Chazz's monster. Chazz watched in horror as the attack hit dead on, and decimated both the Infernal Incinerator, and the rest of his life points. Suddenly the water crashed onto him, knocking him off-stage and began filling up the lower floor of the room until it reached the halfway point of the stage. Chazz's head finally emerged from the water, and he looked pretty furious with his loss.

"A well-played duel, Chazz." commented Bastion. "But not well enough."

"Pure luck!" Chazz shot back. "You drew a lucky card, and stumbled into the win! That's all!"

"Perhaps,..."

Chazz looked up at him, taken aback, while the water dried up.

"But luck favors the prepared, and I was prepared to beat you with a half-dozen other cards as well." Bastion continued, calmly. "Sorry, but you would've lost the duel one way or another, but deny it all you want...just like you denied throwing my deck into the ocean."

Everyone present in the arena could tell that Bastion sounded a bit ticked and hurt still that his deck was thrown in the ocean out of pure unsportsmanship. Chazz however wouldn't man up to his actions still.

"Yeah? Prove it!" he barked.

Bastion sighed quietly, realizing that the Obelisk student was still playing dumb.

"Well, if you insist," he decided, his hand going to his pocket. "Here. One of the cards Peter fished out for me from the ocean, with a formula I wrote on it."

Chazz watched as his opponent took a card out of his pocket and held it up for him to see. It was the Vorse Raider, with some writing on the front.

"I suppose you could've written it, but the math probably would've been wrong, and it's not." Bastion further explained, before glaring at Chazz. "Chazz, you stole, you lied, you cheated, you lost. You deserved to be demoted."

Chazz groaned, collapsing on all fours. He appeared to be agitated.

"This can't be!" he moaned.

Hailey and Chris watched him, appearing a little upset. Hailey began to walk over to him to offer some words of comfort, but Chris grabbed her shoulder gently and shook his head.

"Better give him time to cool off." the taller boy whispered.

"Bastion Misawa!" Dr. Crowler called, walking onto the stage, and ignoring his former Obelisk. "Congradulations, and welcome to Obelisk Blue."

_"Must. Resist. Urge. To. Clobber. Fool."_ Ken thought, her left eyebrow twitching with every word.

Auron then appeared beside her in his Spirit form, and stared ahead at Dr. Crowler.

"Uh, isn't this why you're in trouble for yesterday?" he asked.

_"In the first place, I got in trouble for mouthing off at him."_ Ken sent back, telepathically_. "Secondly, you know you want to hit him, too, Auron."_

Auron merely grunted in response. Meanwhile, back up on stage, Dr. Crowler was about to get his next big surprise for the day.

"No. I must decline that invitation." said Bastion.

Dr. Crowler stepped back, surprised.

"What?" he gasped. "But what for?"

"When I first arrived at the Academy, I decided I would only enter Obelisk Blue when I became the number one student in the freshman class," Bastion explained, before turning to a certain Hero duelist. "Jaden, of all the new freshmen, I think that student is you."

Jaden couldn't help but grin at this.

"Hey, thanks!" he said, his voice laced with enthusiasm. "Does that mean you want to settle this right here? I mean, seeing you guys duel really made me really want to get my game on!"

"Down, Jaden." Rose said, jokingly. "Heel."

"Rose is right, not now." agreed Bastion.

Jaden's smile faded, a little bummed.

"Why not?" he asked.

"Because I have a lot of work to do before I duel you." answered Bastion. "Many formulas to write, theorems to solve, equations to balance. You're a good duelist, Jaden, and I plan to be ready."

Jaden nodded in understanding. He agreed to wait for their duel.

"Smart move." he said.

Meanwhile, Chazz was listening in on their conversation, and growled.

"He didn't have to prepare for me." he grumbled. "He won...with just one day's notice!"

"Don't worry, Jaden, soon my dorm room walls will be filled with new strategies, and we will have our duel." Bastion reassured his friend. "Just be prepared for it to turn out like that ball game. You know, the one where I struck you out?"

Syrus, Rakaia, Rose, Matt, and Peter looked back at Jaden to see that the E-Hero duelist's eyes seemed to glow with an intense flame.

"Oh, boy." muttered Syrus.

"He's got that look again." groaned Rakaia.

"You just keep dreaming, Bastion!" Jaden shot back at the Ra genius. "Baseball's a past time, but dueling's my life! Until then, pal!"

"Alright, until then it is!" Bastion nodded.

* * *

Sorry it took so long, guys. Between trying to figure out the best way to come out of the closet to my Christian family and trying to get past my writer's block, my mind's been working into overdrive. So, Bastion won his duel and declined the invite to go into Obelisk, while Chazz has some stress issues due to some stupid plan his brothers came up with. Next up, we move onto the 13th episode's chapter. And as you've seen, we have a new OC in the story: Peter Salvatore.

Hailey Ryan is owned by Peach Wookiee, Luna Tenshi, and Crayus and Rakaia Meiyo are obviously owned by Rakaia The Dragon Duelist, Sega Rivera is owned by Sega herself, Will Rosen is owned by 15animefreak15, Laura is owned by Hyruleepona, Taryn and Jessi Yuki are owned by Dyusu, and finally Rose Renea is owned by maymay85985. As for my OCs, Ken, Matt, Kenneth, Chris, Bella, and Ramon, they're owned by me and my Duel Club familia, along with Tony Casimir, Ms. Erin Lake, and Underground Duelists Zero and Fang. Don't own the original series part of the plot, but I did tweak with it a bit. The main plot is owned by Kazuki Takahashi and everyone else who helped bring Yu-Gi-Oh! GX into this world. Robot Alchemic Drive is developed by Sandlot, and published by Enix, so I guess they own the game. The Meganite and Volgara cards are being posted up on Deviant Art. Final Fantasy is created by Hironobu Sakaguchi, and since I'm using Auron's appearance from the Kingdom Hearts II game, I'm adding a disclaimer for them, too. Kingdom Hearts series were created by Tetsuya Nomura and Shinji Hashimoto, both games series were developed by Square Enix, formerly known as Square before merging with Enix. Do not own Square Enix, or anything made, published, or developed by Square Enix.

New Disclaimer: a1993 owns Peter Salvatore.


	24. Goin Ape-WOL

Ch.24- Goin' Ape-WOL (groan)-

Somewhere on the Island- Laboratory-

It was a little after midnight, and most of the island's inhabitants were sound asleep. I say "most" because in a deep part of the forest, there was a disturbance within the walls of a camouflaged laboratory.

"Code red!" a voice shouted on the P.A. system. "I repeat, 'code red'!"

Inside the building, several men in matching suits and shades charged down the hallways, all armed with tranqs. One man, who wore normal glasses instead of sunglasses, stopped in the hall to address the others.

"The specimen cannot escape!" he reminded them. "No matter what." he added, quietly to himself.

After checking his equipment, he continued his chase after their quarry, which was continuing it's escape down the halls. The "specimen" turned out to be a monkey, who was wearing strange devices on it's wrists, ankles, forearms, and thighs. Some of the devices had wires coming out of it, and extended to the box strapped to it's chest. On it's head was an odd-looking helmet, but what was more interesting was the dueldisk on it's arm. However, none of the equipment seemed to matter to the mammal, as only one thing was on it's mind: Escaping from the lab. The monkey charged down the hallway, and headed for the door at the end, only for the doors to open, and reveal a man in a suit on the other side. Unfortunately, the monkey was not slowing down one bit, and climbed up onto the suit's head, heading up to the hatch at the top of the elevator. Once the elevator came to a stop, the monkey climbed the ropes and broke through the windows, and successfully escaped.

The Following Morning- Duel Academy- Outside the School-

Chazz walked out of the Duel Academy building, with a gray knapsack on his back, and stopped to look up at his now-former school.

"Stinkin' Duel Academy!" he sneered. "You demote me, you laugh at me, well that's it! I've had it!"

Chazz turned back away from the building, and continued his walk.

"You won't have me to kick around anymore!" he declared.

He made his way down to the docks when he saw a familiar figure heading down the dirt path also. Squinting his eyes a little, he saw that it was Ken.

"Skipping class, Gamer Geek?" the elitist called.

Ken looked back at him, and stopped in her tracks to allow him to catch up.

"Dr. Crowler's got something cooked for me for mouthing off to him a couple days ago." she responded, casually. "What about you, Spike?"

"I'm not skipping class," Chazz told her. "I'm dropping."

"Hey, Dr. C. may be a pain in the tuchus, but it ain't no reason to drop out."

"You're used to being the butt of everyone's jokes, I'm not."

"Chazz, I have way more reasons to drop out than you do, but I'm staying because I like it here. It's...pleasant."

Chazz stared at her for a moment, then he finally spoke.

"Are you done?" he asked.

Ken saw that he wasn't going to listen and stepped aside. Chazz walked past her, and continued his way to the docks. Ken watched as her former classmate left, and took out her PDA. She hit a few keys and waited until Chris' face appeared on the screen.

"Sorry, amigo, I tried to talk him out of leaving." she spoke. "Dude's as stubborn as Jaden."

"Don't worry about it." Chris' voice responded. "I'll relay the message to Hailey. In the meantime, get your butt to class."

Ken clicked off her PDA, and looked from side to side, casually.

"Like hell I am, boyo." she muttered, heading back down the path. "I'm in trouble if I go to class today."

* * *

While Chazz and Ken headed further and further away from the Academy, Syrus was rocketing into the classroom, looking his usual panicked self.

"Jaden! Rakaia! Rose!" he called, racing down the stairs. "It's awful!"

Rakaia stood up from his seat, looking panicked.

"Oh, God, it's my nightmare come true!" he yelped, going pale in the face. "Dr. Crowler's streaking down the halls!"

The students around him slowly looked up at him, disgusted. Rose then turned to look at Syrus, a blank expression on her face.

"And now it'll become our nightmares." she stated.

"No, just listen, alright?!" snapped Syrus. "Chazz is gone!"

Jaden, Rakaia, and Rose simply blinked at what he said.

"And that's awful how?" asked Jaden. "What Rakaia said was more shocking than that."

He stopped to look up at his fellow roommate with a grimace.

"And I mean 'shocking'." the E-Hero duelist added.

Rakaia just shook his head at him and sat back down in his seat.

"Well,...gee, I don't know..." Syrus spoke, getting his friend's point. "Because he's your big rival?"

"And what are we, chopped liver?" asked Rakaia.

"Yeah!" Rose added, angrily. "What about us? And Alexis, and Bastion, and Hailey and Ken? Don't we get a little credit?"

Jaden however wasn't listening to them, because what Syrus said made a little more sense.

"You're right!" he agreed. "I need my competition!"

Rakaia and Rose fell over in their seats.

"That'd be a 'no' to the latter." muttered Rose.

"We've been demoted from friends to chopped liver." groaned Rakaia.

Meanwhile, Alexis, Mindy, Jasmine, Sega, and Bella were listening in on their friends' conversation, and were shocked at the news Syrus had given. A few rows below, Chazz's former cronies were conversing with each other about Chazz's disappearance also.

"Hey, you know, I saw Chazz packing his stuff late last night." Topher spoke, looking at his two friends.

"Know why?" asked Conklin. "'Cause he lost to that Ra."

"'Bastion', wasn't it?"

"And those Slifers slackers, too. Rakaia Meiyo and Jaden Yuki."

"Yeah." another Obelisk Blue male snickered. "If you can't beat the ketchup and mustard team, good riddance!"

As the trio began to laugh (like hyenas one might add), Jaden stared at them, shaking his head, slowly.

"What a bunch of jerks." he growled. "I'll tell ya, if those were the only friends I had, I'd probably run away, too."

"I say we give 'em an attitude adjustment." Rakaia said, punching one fist into his hand. "John Cena-style."

"Now you're talkin', Smokestack!" agreed Rose. "A duel would just be too easy!"

Syrus then turned to them.

"Guys?" he spoke. "Well, I know Chazz has been a pain in the past, but what if he's in some trouble? And needs us to help him."

Rose and Rakaia looked at one another, unsure about where their friend was going with this, until Jaden shot to his feet.

"Good point!" he agreed. "The right thing to do would be to go look for him!"

"And there he goes again." muttered Rakaia. "Involving us in another of his crazy schemes and/or adventures."

"Yeah, so when should we go?" Syrus asked, ignoring him.

The answer to that question didn't take long for Jaden to answer.

"Right now, Sy!" he replied. "After all, it's also a great excuse to sneak out of class." he added, lowly, with a chuckle.

The Slifers moved out of their row, and began heading up the stairs and out of the classroom.

* * *

"Jay?" Rakaia's voice called.

"Yeah, Rakaia?" Jaden's voice responded.

"How did you find this little tunnel again?"

"Trade secret."

"Just keep moving." Rose's voice commanded, softly. "...Ow! Syrus, watch it!"

"Sorry, Rose." Syrus' voice spoke.

"It's okay, Syrus. But I'm warning you all now, anyone lets one rip, and you'll never be dads."

"...Umm..."

"So help me, Jaden,...!"

"Well, it's not that, Rose. We're at the end of the tunnel."

"...Oh."

Outside of the Academy building, in a narrow, little hole in the building, Jaden poked his head out of it, and looked from side to side.

"All clear." he whispered.

One by one, the Slifers crawled out of the hole, and dusted themselves off.

"You know,..." a familiar voice called to them.

The four Slifers yelped in surprise and froze up. They had been busted.

"...this school does have regular doors." the voice finished.

Turning around, the Slifers saw that the ones who caught them were Alexis, Mindy, Jasmine, Sega, Bella, and Chris.

"Oh, hey, Alexis." greeted Jaden. "I bet you're wondering what we're doing out here. Well, we were just...uh,...gettin' an early start on our homework."

"Yeah, you know, algebra, history, science." agreed Rose.

"Yeah, right, guys." Alexis said, smirking. "You're looking for Chazz."

Jaden, Syrus, Rakaia, and Rose glanced at them, nervously. They were definitely busted now.

"...And we're going to come with you." Alexis declared.

The Slifers blinked at them, now lost.

"Really?" asked Jaden. "Since when do you guys ditch class?"

"Chazz is an Obelisk Blue, and we take care of our own." replied Alexis.

"That, and some of us forgot our homework." Chris added, rounding on the remaining four female Obelisks.

"Shut up, Chris." grumbled Sega.

Elsewhere- Nearby the Beach-

Ken stretched her arms out, yawning, then laid back against the tree she was sitting against. While Jaden, Syrus, Rakaia, Rose, Alexis, Mindy, Jasmine, Sega, Bella, and Chris went to go find Chazz, she was staying out of sight.

"Why aren't you in class?" Auron's voice asked.

Ken opened one eye and looked at the warrior monk Duel Spirit, who was leaning back against the tree. After staring at him for a second, she closed her eye again.

"I have Dr. Crowler's class right now, and he's got something cooked up for me today for backtalking him yesterday." replied Ken. "I've learned by now to not ignore my gut instincts."

"Paranoid much?" a new voice asked.

Ken opened her eye again, now seeing another spirit standing against a tree opposite Auron. He was tall man with blond, spiky hair, with piercing blue eyes, and he was dressed in a collared, one-sleeved black top with a pauldron with a silver Fenrir badge on his left shoulder holding in place two straps that went around his chest, a pair of black pants with a cloth covering his left leg and waist that was held up by the straps, and a pair of boots.

"Hey, Cloud." Ken greeted, nonchalantly. "Look, guys, Crowler's got it in for me, Jay, Syrus, and Rakaia, just because Jaden beat him, Rakaia and I helped Jaden defend the Slifers, and Syrus for...being Syrus. "

The two Duel Spirits merely blinked at the rant.

"...Does that count as an answer?" asked Auron.

"I guess." replied Cloud.

Before Ken could retort, she and the two warriors noticed a shadow being casted over the former, and they looked up to see Ms. Lake standing a few inches beside Ken, her arms crossed over her chest. She wore her work uniform today, and her hair was tied back in a bun, with her green eyes glaring down at the Obelisk student.

"Your parole officer is here." observed Auron.

_"Thank you, Auron."_ Ken sent, dryly.

"Why aren't you in class?" asked Ms. Lake.

"I was bored." Ken replied, aloud.

"Get your butt to class, right now, young lady."

The Obelisk Blue student looked up at her teacher with a raised eyebrow.

"Who are you callin' a 'lady'?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips. "I'll have you know those are fighting words!"

"And you're about to have detention if you're not back in class within the next ten minutes." Ms. Lake replied, sternly. "Do you want Crowler and the Disciplinary Action Squad on your back again?"

Before Ken could answer, they heard a familiar feminine voice shouting from somewhere within the forest, causing her and her para to look around, startled.

"CHAZZ, YOU LITTLE TOAD, IF THIS IS SOME KIND OF TRICK, YOU BETTER HOPE THAT WE DON'T FIND YOU!" the voice hollared, angrily. "YOU GOT THAT?!"

As the voice echoed around the two (four, if you count the Duel Spirits), birds began flying away, panicked, and then silence followed.

"What was that?" asked Ms. Lake.

"Unless I'm mistaken, that'd be the maiden cry of a yellow-feathered Alexis Rhodes." replied Ken.

"And from the sound of it, she's somewhere that way." Auron added, pointing to the left behind him. "Also, she said 'we', so I'm willing to bet my sword that your friend Jaden must not be far behind."

"Without a doubt."

"Who are you talking to?" asked Ms. Lake.

Auron, Cloud, and Ken turned to look at her, and remembered that she couldn't see or hear Duel Spirits, so they had to think fast.

"Uh, nothing, let's go track her down." Ken said, heading off.

"Oh, no, you don't." Ms. Lake responded, grabbing her by the collar. "You're going to class."

She began dragging the Obelisk tomboy back to the school, with Auron and Cloud following them.

"Come on, I don't wanna go!" yelped Ken. "I'm in no mood to deal with the doc's crazy schemes today!"

They stopped when they heard some screaming, and watched as a monkey leapt through the trees, with a familiar red-headed girl in it's arms.

"Ms. Lake?" Ken called to her teacher.

"Yes, Ken?" responded Ms. Lake.

"Either I've had some bad pizza last night, or there was a monkey going through those trees, carrying someone."

"I saw it, too."

While the two of them, and the Duel Spirits, headed back to the school, the monkey carried Jasmine through the forest.

"I'm telling you, I'm not your type!" Jasmine pleaded, throughout the trip. "My friends are way cuter! I'm high maintenance! Please, let me go!"

Then, after finally opening her eyes, she finally saw that she and her captor were sitting on top of a tree, which was perched over a cliff. Below the cliff was a long way down to the ocean. Changing tactics, Jasmine clung onto the monkey, shaking in fear.

"Please! _Don't_ let me go!" she begged it. "_Don't_ let me go! _Don't_ let me go!"

Meanwhile, the three men in suits finally caught up with them, and one of them aimed a rifle at the monkey, while Jaden and the others ran up behind them.

"Rats, we can't tranq him, or else he'll drop the girl." the taller of the three men growled.

Jaden however wasn't paying attention, his gaze was fixed on the dueldisk that was strapped to the monkey's arm.

"Hey, that monkey's got a dueldisk on!" he pointed out.

The others with him looked closely at the animal and saw that he was right. The monkey had an Academy-issued dueldisk on it's arm.

"You're right!" gasped Syrus.

"It's either that, or a really funny-looking banana."

Rakaia slowly turned to look at his roommate.

"That...That was horrible." he muttered, before looking away again.

"Yes, and that's no banana either, young man." one of the men spoke, turning to the students. "And that's no regular monkey. His name's Wheeler, he's a trained duelist."

"A dueling monkey?" gasped Jaden.

Bella leaned over to the side to mutter to her friends.

"This has Seto Kaiba's name all over it, or I'm Lola Bunny." she quipped.

While the other students gawked at the monkey in surprise, the man in the specs looked at the shorter man, who seemed to be the boss.

"Sir!" he spoke, in a soft, warning tone.

"Oh yes, I forgot." the boss man nodded. "Top secret."

"If we're lucky, it's not one of the 'I'd have to kill ya' secrets." Chris grunted, rubbing the back of his head.

"Let's hope." nodded Mindy.

"Wait!" Jaden's voice rang out.

The men in suits turned to look at him, as the others around the Slifer did.

"If he duels,...let me duel him!" Jaden spoke up, stepping forward.

"'Duel him'?!" the elderly man barked, as if he hadn't heard right.

The students around Jaden either stared in surprise, or looked away, shaking their heads.

"Can't you see we have a situation here?!" the man scolded Jaden further.

"Uh, yeah." Jaden responded, as if it were obvious that he understood. "That's why I wanna duel him!"

"Jaden, are you feeling okay?" asked Syrus.

"Sy, he wants to duel a monkey." Sega pointed out. "How do you think he feels?"

"Sega's right, he's not sick." agreed Alexis. "He's just gone crazy."

"Look, I bet if I beat this monkey, he'll hand over Jasmine." Jaden explained to his friends. "I mean, it's only fair."

Before anyone could stop him, the E-Hero duelist rushed forward, and stood on a patch of dirt.

"So, how 'bout it, Wheeler?" he asked. "Ready to get your game on?"

Wheeler just stared at him for a moment, and chattered a little.

"That's right, banana breath!" Jaden challenged, bravely. "Put the girl down, and let's settle this like men, or, uh, higher primates,...or whatever!"

Syrus watched as Wheeler seemingly thought it over, and blinked.

"Gotta hand it him, they are communicating." he observed, amazed.

"I don't get how that monkey understands him." Mindy stated, confused.

"Maybe all the training he's had taught Wheeler how to speak human." Alexis commented, casually. "Or maybe Jaden's really a monkey."

"I vote for the latter explanation." Rose declared, flatly. "That just makes much more sense."

"So, if I win, Jasmine's free!" Jaden continued with his demands.

"And if you lose?!" Jasmine interrupted.

This caused Jaden to pause in his speech, suddenly.

"'If I lose'?" he repeated.

Behind him, his friends were either facepalming, falling over, or just sweatdropping.

"Jaden!" Rose yelled, annoyed. "There's a hostage involved, remember?!"

"Sorry, I didn't really think of that!" Jaden responded, rubbing the back of his head. "Okay, if Wheeler wins the duel, then we let him go!"

At this point, those who didn't fall over, fell over.

"Oy vey..." groaned Bella.

Back on the tree, Jasmine was still looking far from calm.

"Wait, 'let him go'?!" she yelped. "Well, where does that leave me?!"

"Jaden, the objective here is to reassure the lady of her imminent rescue!" Chris reminded his friend. "And to actually do it!"

"Look, he's not gonna win!" Jaden responded, cheerfully. "So, don't worry about it, okay, guys?"

Wheeler stared at Jaden through the visor of his helmet, and after a moment of weighing his options, the little ape decided he was down with the duel. He nodded, and gently placed Jasmine on the tree, then moved forward to duel Jaden. Clinging onto the tree for dear life, and keeping her eyes on the duel that would determine her fate, Jasmine could only wonder how she got into this mess.

"What a weird first date." she groaned.

Wheeler hopped up onto the rock a few feet across from Jaden, and chattered as he activated the dueldisk on his arm. Jaden and his friends watched this in sheer surprise as they watched the mammal handle the piece of advanced technology with ease.

"Wow, uh, you really know how to work that thing, don't ya?" commented a very surprised Jaden.

"Hope this works." said Alexis.

She then noticed that Bella had a camcorder out, and pointed at Jaden and Wheeler.

"Bella, what are you doing?" asked Alexis.

"I need something to do." Bella responded, with a shrug.

While Jaden activated his dueldisk, one of the suits aimed his rifle at the monkey, ready to fire.

"I have a shot!" the man declared.

"No!" the boss barked. "This duel is just the kind of field test we've been waiting for."

The third man on his other side just stared at him, wondering if this was a good idea. Back on the field, the duel was just about to begin.

_"Alright, time to get down to business."_ Jaden thought, as he stared down his opponent. _"Monkey business."_

"Ready or not, let's duel!" he called, out loud.

To the surprise of the Academy students who were present, the helmet lit up, and a robotic voice emitted from it.

"Duel!" he agreed.

Jaden yelped in shock, as he didn't see that coming. Behind him, his friends jumped with surprise also.

"Whoa, it talks?!" asked Syrus.

"First I meet a monkey armed to the teeth with tech, then the monkey kidnaps a girl, then Jaden is able to communicate with and challenge it to a duel, and now it talks." Rakaia spoke, scratching the back of his head. "I think I need to lay down now."

"Please, children, that would be completely unrealistic." the elderly man with the suits explained to them. "His helmet reads his mind and talks for him."

Jaden looked back at him, as if wanting to say something, but decided to focus on the duel.

"Here goes!" he shouted, drawing his card.

Looking at it, he smiled, as he saw that the card he drew was Elemental Hero Sparkman.

_"Sweetness!"_ the E-Hero duelist thought, happily. _"Just the card to grease this monkey!"_

"Go, Elemental Hero Sparkman!" he spoke, out loud.

After placing the card down on his dueldisk, Sparkman emerged onto the field, generating volts of electricity in his hands.

"Alright, monkey, you saw my moves, now do yours!" challenged Jaden. "Get it? Monkey see, monkey do?"

Wheeler simply growled at him, while several of the Slifer Red student's friends groaned behind him, and on the tree.

"You make puns now?!" Jasmine snapped, annoyed. "And not even good ones!"

"She's right, Jay." Rakaia agreed, sweatdropping. "That was so unnecessary."

"And painful." Mindy added, shaking her head. "Painful as a St. Olaf story."

At this moment, Alexis, Syrus, Bella, Sega, Rakaia, and Rose slowly turned towards her, staring surprised at her.

"What?" Mindy asked, curiously.

Meanwhile, Wheeler was just beginning his turn.

"My turn, my turn!" he called through the helmet, in an excited, robotic voice. "Draw!"

Wheeler drew his card, and looked at it. Then he lowered it to look at Jaden.

"Berserk Gorilla, Attack Mode!" he called, as he placed the card onto the dueldisk.

A large gorilla appeared onto the field in a golden light, and roared. The large mammal pounded on it's chest, and finally landed onto the ground, ready for battle. It had 2000 ATK.

"That's one angry monkey." Sega commented, nervously.

"Monkeys aren't that big, Sega." Alexis reminded her.

"Tell that to Akira Toriyama." Syrus chuckled, sheepishly.

"That's just a cartoon though, Sy." Mindy told him.

"And this isn't?" commented Rose.

The others looked at her in confusion for a moment. Jaden however stared at the large beast.

"What's he, family?" he asked. "Guess now we know who got the good looks."

"Berserk Gorilla, attack Sparkman!" Wheeler shouted. "Attack! Attack!"

Wheeler hopped around on the rock, chattering, while his monster charged at the Elemental Hero. It reared back a fist, and smashed Sparkman in the face with it, destroying it. Jaden raised his arms to shield himself from the explosion, and his life points sunk from 4000 to 3600. Back by the cliff, Wheeler did a few flips on the rock, obviously happy that he drew first blood in the duel, figuratively speaking.

"Now, one card facedown!" he continued, placing a card into his dueldisk. "Facedown!"

A set card appeared onto his side of the field, signaling the end of his turn.

"Monkey see, monkey do...better!" quipped Wheeler.

Jaden growled, seeing that this duel wasn't going to be easy after all.

"I make monkey out of you! You! You!" Wheeler taunted, cheerfully.

On the sidelines, the students observing behind Jaden were seeing that Jaden was starting to lose his cool.

"Jaden's losing the duel." gasped Syrus.

"Yeah, and he's losing his cool as well." added Alexis. "But then, how could you not? I mean, he is getting beat by a monkey."

"What do you know? It does sound worse when you say it out loud." said Rose.

Jaden then rounded on his friends, very annoyed.

"Hey, come on! Give me a break!" he snapped. "The duel just started, and it's about to heat up!"

He turned back, and started his turn.

"Watch this!" Jaden called, drawing his card.

He looked at what he drew, and smiled.

"Perfect!" he grinned. "I play the magic of Polymerization!"

The Slifer student held up his Spell card, and Avian and Burstinatrix leapt into the air, then began spinning around each other in a circle.

"With it, I fuse Elemental Hero Avian, with Elemental Hero Burstinatrix, to summon...Elemental Hero Flame Wingman!" announced Jaden.

The two heroes spun around each other at a faster rate, until a tornado formed, and when it disappeared, the Flame Wingman stood in place of the two monsters.

"Now, with Flame Wingman's help, I really will lose my cool!" shouted Jaden. "Go, Infernal Rage!"

The Flame Wingman reared back the arm with the dragon head accessory attached to it, then shot it at the Berserk Gorilla, which caused it to shoot a stream of flames at the beast. The flames struck the Berserk Gorilla, and incinerated it within seconds. Wheeler howled as his life points dropped by 100, and chattered angrily at his opponent. Unfortunately for him, the worst was yet to come.

"And I'm not done yet!" called Jaden.

Wheeler looked over at his opponent, curiously, waiting to see what was coming next.

"Next, I'll use Flame Wingman's superpower!" explained Jaden. "You lose life points equal to the destroyed monster's ATK pts. were! Now, how's your cool?!"

Wheeler yelped, as he knew what was coming next.

"Awesome!" Syrus cheered, excitedly. "Now Wheeler will lose 2000 life points! Nice, Jaden!"

"Yeah, but not so nice for our furry little friend." Alexis pointed out.

Flame Wingman appeared before the monkey duelist, and prepared to strike again. Wheeler could only scream again as the flames struck him, depleting 2000 more points from his score. Now he had 1900 remaining. Jaden pumped his fist, grinning, as he took the lead in the duel.

"I'm the man!" he yelled. "I mean, not that...you couldn't be,...but...you know..."

"Jay, stop digging." pleaded Bella.

Jaden, however, wasn't listening. Wheeler had suddenly seemed a bit down.

"Uh, Wheeler?" he called. "Hello? You callin' it quits already?"

"Maybe he's hungry." Bella piped up, taking off her bag. "I've got a banana in my lunch bag if he'd like that."

"So, is that it?" asked Syrus. "Does that mean Wheeler's finished?"

The old man on the sidelines merely chuckled, causing the students to look at him.

"Oh, please. He just made one little mistake, that's all." he spoke. "But he won't make it again."

The others now appeared confused, while Chris and Sega scowled.

"Believe me, it's all part of his training." the man continued, darkly. "You see, back at the lab, if he made a mistake twice. He'd be harshly punished. We poked and prodded him that way for years. No, he won't give up, he'll just get better."

The Slifers and the Obelisks present in the area stared at him, troubled by what they just heard.

"'Poked and prodded'?" repeated Syrus.

"Top secret." the man with glasses whispered to his boss.

"Oh, right." the older man nodded in agreement. "Uh, never mind."

Mindy then looked to her friends.

"Doesn't that fall on the lines of 'animal abuse'?" she asked.

"It should, Mindy." Sega replied, angrily. "But some people don't care about that."

Alexis then noticed that the man with the glasses was staring at Bella, who was still recording with her camcorder, and pulled Bella between her and Chris and Sega.

"Chris, keep a close eye on the tall guy." she whispered. "Bella, you keep getting this."

Chris and Bella nodded, Sega looked between the blond female beside her, and the suits, and understood. Meanwhile, Jaden was still trying to get Wheeler's attention.

"So, monkey, you callin' it quits or what?" he called.

Wheeler had finally snapped out of it, and growled.

"Never surrender!" he shouted. "Never!"

So Wheeler had finally begun his turn, and drew his card. Jaden just smiled, excited that the duel would continue.

"That's the spirit!" he exclaimed. "Yeah! Alright then! Game on!"

Wheeler then placed a card down on his dueldisk.

"I summon Acrobat Monkey!" he announced. "Monkey!"

A robotic blue and beige monkey appeared onto the field, with a cord-like tail, and 1000 ATK. However, Wheeler wasn't finished there.

"Next, I play my facedown! Trap, Trap!" he continued, as his set card flipped up. "DNA Surgery! Go!"

"DNA Surgery?!" gasped Jaden. "That changes all the monsters on the field to whatever type that monkey chooses!"

"I love that card." said Rakaia.

"You would, Lizard Boy." quipped Sega.

Rakaia fell over, while their friends laughed, and then stood back up, glaring at his fellow Slifer.

"You-Y-You-You...!" he spluttered, angrily.

Back in the duel, Wheeler was continuing his turn.

"I choose Beast-type!" he declared. "Beast-type!"

Two two monsters on the field began transforming into beastly versions of themselves, and this appeared to be a little startling to some of the students.

"Whoa!" yelped Rose.

"That's so cool!" exclaimed Sega. "Now let's see a Kuriboh under that effect!"

"Are you kidding?!" Mindy snapped, angrily. "You'll destroy it's cuteness that way!"

Syrus, Alexis, Chris, Rakaia, Bella, and Jaden all breathed a sigh of annoyance.

"Oh, brother." groaned Syrus.

Meanwhile, Wheeler held up another card.

"Now, I play Wild Nature's Release!" he shouted.

"'Wild Nature's Release'?!" Alexis repeated, amazed. "That Spell card will increase the ATK pts. of one Beast-type or Beast Warrior-Type monster on the field by value of it's DEF pts.. Wow, this monkey is getting better!"

"Which means, for Jaden, it's gonna get worse!" gasped Jaden.

"Acrobat Monkey, power up!" commanded Wheeler. "Power up!"

The Acrobat Monkey's eyes began to glow a fiery orange color, and it growled, flexing it's muscles to the point of it's armor breaking off into pieces. The little monster then pounded on it's chest proudly, and it's ATK increased to 2800.

"Uh-oh!" yelped Jaden.

"Now, Acrobat Monkey, attack!" ordered Wheeler. "Somersault Smash!"

The monkey pounded on it's chest once again, and performed a rapid somersault into the air, rocketing towards Flame Wingman in the process. Then the monkey smashed the Elemental Hero with it's fists, destroying it. Jaden yelled, as the blast from the explosion hit him as well, and his life points fell by 700, leaving him with 2900. Then, the monkey suddenly began grabbing it's helmet-clad head, as if it were in pain, then suddenly exploded.

"Wait a sec, I don't get it." Syrus spoke, confused. "What just happened? Anyone?"

"When Wild Nature's Release is used on a monster, that monster's destroyed at the turn's end." explained Alexis.

Syrus nodded, understanding now.

"Your turn!" Wheeler shouted, looking at Jaden. "Your turn!"

"Nice moves, Wheeler." Jaden applauded, eagerly. "But no banana yet. Now here goes! Draw!"

Jaden drew a card from his deck and looked at it.

_"Alright, it's time to show this hostage-taking hairball that it takes more than just opposable thumbs to be a good duelist."_ he thought.

The E-Hero duelist put the card he drew in his hand, then took another card out, holding it up.

"I'm gonna play-" he began.

He prepared to play his card, but stopped when he heard some grunting from the sidelines. The two duelists, and those on the sidelines then turned to see several monkeys hiding behind the rocks. All looking very similar to Wheeler.

"Uh-oh!" gasped Syrus. "More monkeys!"

"It's like an entire tribe of them!" exclaimed Mindy.

"Just stay calm, I don't think they're gonna hurt us." Chris reassured his friends.

The trio of suits behind them gasped in amazement at the furry creatures in sight. Jaden stared at the monkeys as well, it all suddenly coming together now.

_"Wait a sec..."_ he wondered to himself.

The Slifer Red student turned Wheeler.

"That's why you're trying to escape, isn't it?" he realized. "To get back to your family!"

"Must win!" cried Wheeler. "Miss family! Miss family!"

The hearts of the teens all went out to the little monkey, understanding now what he wanted, and felt bad.

"Look, pal, I know you want to get back with your family, but I need to get back Jasmine." Jaden told his opponent. "So, unless you let her go, I gotta beat you. Which means I gotta summon the Elemental Hero Clayman!"

He played the card he was holding up seconds ago, and the clay-armored Hero emerged onto the field with 800 ATK.

"Don't forget! Don't forget!" shouted Wheeler. "DNA Surgery! Clayman turns into a Beast-type!"

Clayman suddenly began spouting beast-like fur all over his body, and his red, helmeted head suddenly became a wolf-like one. His hands became claws, and he basically turned into a were-Clayman.

"Fine with me!" said Jaden. "That's not gonna matter when I play this! Read it and weep! Courageous Charge! Oh yeah, here's how it goes down! I take one of my monsters with 1000 ATK pts. or less, and pay 1000 life points, then if my monster deals damage to your life points in battle, you also take damage equal to his DEF pts.!"

The others behind him stared in amazement. Jaden had done it again.

"Pretty sweet, huh?!" the E-Hero duelist asked. "Now, Elemental Hero Clayman, attack Wheeler with Clay Clobberer!"

The clay-clad Hero reared back a mighty fist, then let it fly. The attack charged at Wheeler, and struck him head on, knocking out 800 of his life points, while the little monkey hollared.

"And now, thanks to Courageous Charge, his 2000 DEF pts. are dealt to you, too!" announced Jaden.

And that meant "game over" for Wheeler, as the rest of his life points were wiped out. Wheeler chattered miserably, knowing that all hope of returning home was lost now. Those behind Jaden cheered happily for his victory.

"Alright! He won!" Syrus cheered, smiling.

The holograms faded, and Jaden looked over at his opponent.

"Fair's fair." he spoke, calmly. "Time you let Jasmine go."

Wheeler stared back for a moment, then chattered in a way that sounded like "okay". He scurried over to the tree where Jasmine was sitting, and picked her up, then he carried her back over to the ground, where she hurried away from him.

"Jasmine!" the others called, hurrying over to her.

"He reeked of banana!" cried Jasmine.

"It's okay, you're safe now." Mindy reassured her, gently.

Then Jasmine turned to Jaden.

"Thanks for saving me." she thanked the E-Hero duelist. "But,..."

The group turned to look at the monkey duelist, feeling sorry for him.

"What happens to Wheeler now?" asked Jasmine. "He shouldn't have snatched me, but he still deserves better than those needle-poking scientist guys."

Speaking of the "needle-poking scientist guys",...

"Alright, you flea-ridden failure, let's go!" the old man barked, as he and his two associates started walking toward Wheeler.

Jaden growled and stepped in front of Wheeler, his arms spread out in a protective gesture.

"Hold it!" snapped Jaden. "He doesn't belong with you! He belongs out here in nature! He belongs with his family! So that's where we're gonna leave him, got it?!"

The trio of suits stared at him.

"Then he can pick grubs, eat berries, and, you know, other monkey stuff." Jaden continued, looking back at Wheeler with a smile.

Wheeler looked up at him, confused.

"It's alright, Wheeler!" Syrus called, agreeing with his roommate. "We won't let them take you back to the lab!"

"'Cause if you do, I'll call the TV stations!" agreed Alexis.

"And I'll call the newspapers!" added Mindy.

"And it's goodbye, top secret!" Jasmine threw in.

The two taller men just shoved their way past Jaden, ignoring them.

"Enough nonsense, out of the way!" the man in the glasses snapped.

They threw the net over Wheeler, and Wheeler tried to get free from it. Jaden watched as the men captured Wheeler, and glared at them, furiously.

"Stop it!" he yelled.

"You think your threats scare me?" the old man asked, walking past the teenager. "Please, you're just some kid. Who's gonna believe you? Not only will my lab work continue, but it will grow larger."

"How's that?"

"Because I'm taking them all!"

With that, the man holding the rifle aimed his weapon at the monkeys hiding behind the rocks.

"Your friend won't miss his family, they'll all be there in cages with him!" the older man announced. "And after we're done catching the monkeys, we'll be taking that camera the girl over there has."

Alexis and Sega looked down behind them to see Bella hurriedly shoving her camera into her bag, and saw that she was fiddling around with something inside it.

"What are you doing?" Alexis whispered to her.

Bella ignored her, and continued with what she was doing. Suddenly, the attempted abduction was thwarted when a small, furry creature hopped up on the rifle-wielding man's face, and startled him, making him drop his weapon. The creature meowed angrily, and leapt off of the man's face, then landed on the ground gracefully. The group then saw it was a brown cat, a very familiar cat.

"Hey, isn't that...?" Rose started, staring at the cat.

Then a familiar pair walked over to the cat, one of them leaning down to pick him up.

"Tsk, tsk, Pharoah." the man of the pair spoke, good-naturedly. "Naughty kitty."

The group of students, men, and monkeys watched as Prof. Banner and Ms. Lake walked over to them.

"Prof. Banner and Ms. Lake!" exclaimed the students.

The pair of teachers calmly stepped over to the trio of men, one of them still recovering from the scratches he received from Pharaoh's surprise attack.

"Uh, who are you?" the older man asked.

"Oh, you know, just your average teachers, duelists,..." Prof. Banner spoke, kicking the rifle up into his hand, casually. "Animal lover. If you gentlemen catch my drift." he added, dangerously.

The old man glared at him, growling angrily.

* * *

After reasoning with the trio, the suits walked away quietly, while Wheeler, now freed from the tech he was equipped with, was let go. Wheeler still wore the dueldisk, possibly as a sort of going away present or something, and chattered in a way that sounded like he was thanking his new friends for all that they've done. He was now free to return home with his family and friends, and his human friends couldn't be more happier for him.

"Aw, look, it's like a family reunion." said Syrus.

"It is." sighed Jasmine.

"Hey, let's duel again sometime!" Jaden called out to his new friend.

Wheeler raised the arm with the dueldisk attached to it, and chattered happily. Jaden shot his two-fingered salute at him, and smiled.

"Me, too!" he agreed. "That was a super fun match!"

"Uh, Jaden, his talky helmet is gone now, you know." Syrus reminded him.

"Maybe Alexis was right after all," Rakaia mused, jokingly. "Maybe Jaden is really a monkey."

"Not cool, guys." Jaden grumbled, facefaulting.

"Still, that was a close one." Mindy said, smiling. "If the professor and Ms. Lake wouldn't have shown up, they would've taken him away for sure."

"How'd you two find us anyway?" asked Alexis.

"Like I said, I love animals." Prof. Banner replied, petting his cat. "Of course, it would be hard not to be with a cat who could track as well as Pharaoh, and Ms. Lake heard you kids a little bit ago, and let me know."

Jaden folded his arms behind his head, and grinned.

"I'm guessing it was when Alexis was yelling?" he asked.

"And scared the heck out of Ken and me." Ms. Lake replied, chuckling. "I was outside looking for my student when I heard Alexis yelling about Chazz."

"Was that why you were looking for us?"

"Well, children, I wanted to tell you that Chazz is okay."

The students around him smiled, relieved.

"That's good news!" said Jaden.

"Sure is." agreed Syrus.

Prof. Banner sweatdropped a little, as he had some bad news to tell as well, and continued.

"Of course, there is some bad news as well." he went on. "Here, come with me."

The two teachers led their students to the docks by the harbor, where they continued the story.

"You see, Pharaoh tracked him here to the docks, but when I arrived, he was already leaving on his family's personal yacht." Prof. Banner explained, staring out at the water. "Ken also told me that she was asked by Hailey to check up on Chazz if she saw him, and she learned he was dropping out, so that confirmed my suspicions."

Flashback- Moments ago-

_Chazz stood on the back of his yacht, looking back at his former school as it drove away on the water._

"You haven't heard the last of Chazz Princeton, Duel Academy!" _he thought. _"No way!"

_Prof. Banner walked over by the lighthouse just in time to catch Chazz already too far from the island. He was too late._

End Flashback

The students now looked down again. Chazz really was gone.

"Well, that's a shame." Jaden commented.

"Yeah, I guess." agreed Syrus. "He did make things interesting."

"Oh, yeah." said Rakaia. "Things were never really quiet with him around."

The Obelisks with them stared out at the ocean, a little sad also.

"My Chazzy." sighed Mindy.

Jaden then turned to his friends, smiling eagerly.

"Well, I'm sure he'll be back someday!" he told them.

"Me, too!" Syrus nodded, smiling also.

Alexis and the others nodded in agreement as well.

"After all, good rivals are hard to find!" continued Jaden.

"Yes, and do you know what is not?" asked Prof. Banner. "Class. And since you cut out early today, we have some making up to do. So, let's go."

The students groaned, knowing that this was not going to be fun, and began following their professor back to class. Then Prof. Banner stopped in his tracks.

"Oh, wait." he exclaimed. "There was something else. Dr. Crowler is holding a special lesson for everyone today."

He turned back to see his students looking at one another, confused.

"There's a duel going on at the Obelisk Arena soon, and we need to hurry if we want to see it in time." the professor explained. "A handicap duel, between three Obelisks."

"A handicap duel?" blinked Syrus.

"Between three Obelisks?" added Mindy. "But why?"

* * *

Thanks so much for the patience. I was going to update sooner, but things are happening and I'm not exactly Superman. Next chapter's a duel, obviously, and I need you guys to check out a poll that will be coming up as soon as I post this chapter. It involves what kind of chapter(s) will be after the duel next chapter. Once again, thanks.

Hailey Ryan is owned by Peach Wookiee, Luna Tenshi, and Crayus and Rakaia Meiyo are obviously owned by Rakaia The Dragon Duelist, Sega Rivera is owned by Sega herself, Will Rosen is owned by 15animefreak15, Laura is owned by Hyruleepona, Taryn and Jessi Yuki are owned by Dyusu, Rose Renea is owned by maymay85985, and Peter Salvatore is owned by a1993. As for my OCs, Ken, Matt, Kenneth, Chris, Bella, and Ramon, they're owned by me and my Duel Club familia, along with Tony Casimir, Ms. Erin Lake, and Underground Duelists Zero and Fang. Don't own the original series part of the plot, but I did tweak with it a bit. The main plot is owned by Kazuki Takahashi and everyone else who helped bring Yu-Gi-Oh! GX into this world. Robot Alchemic Drive is developed by Sandlot, and published by Enix, so I guess they own the game. The Meganite and Volgara cards are being posted up on Deviant Art. Final Fantasy is created by Hironobu Sakaguchi, and since I'm using Auron's appearance from the Kingdom Hearts II game, I'm adding a disclaimer for them, too. Kingdom Hearts series were created by Tetsuya Nomura and Shinji Hashimoto, both games series were developed by Square Enix, formerly known as Square before merging with Enix. Do not own Square Enix, or anything made, published, or developed by Square Enix.


	25. Double Trouble Debut

Ch.25- Double Trouble Debut-

Obelisk Arena-

"Ladies and gentlemen, the duel is about to begin!" Dr. Crowler's voice announced over the mic.

He stood on the stage between Ken and Topher and Conklin, the latter two grinning deviously at the punk standing across from them. Sitting in the bleachers behind Ken were her friends, the others who didn't tag along with the search party who went to find Chazz.

"This is so unfair." Laura commented, annoyed. "It's a two on one battle."

"So was the battle between Jaden and Syrus and the Paradox Brothers." Peter pointed out. "Jaden and Syrus beat 'em, didn't they?"

"Yeah, but these guys work pretty good together, and this is the first time she's ever used this deck in action." Hailey reminded him. "Ken's going to have her work cut out for her."

On the stage, Ken, Topher, and Conklin had just finished shuffling their decks. Topher and Conklin grinned confidently at their opponent.

"It's not too late to back down, Gamer Geek." Topher warned her, grinning confidently.

"Yeah, so you don't have to be humiliated in front of the whole school." agreed Conklin.

"Oh, shut up." grumbled Ken.

The three of them separated to head to their respective sides of the field, and Auron and Cloud appeared beside Ken in spirit form.

"Man, this is a waste of time." groaned Ken.

"Remember what got you into this mess in the first place." Cloud reminded her.

"And keep your cool." Auron added, coolly. "I don't think this is a fight you want to lose."

"I know, I know, guys." Ken sighed, rubbing the back of her head.

She activated her dueldisk, while Topher and Conklin activated their own, and the three of them drew their hands.

"Let's do this!" they yelled.

The lifepoint meters shot up to 8000 on each side of the field, and Conklin drew a card from his deck to kick off the duel.

"My move!" he yelled. "And I set a monster in Defense, and a card facedown!"

He placed one card on his Monster Card slot zone's center slot in a facedown sideways position, then slipped a card into the Spell and Trap Card Zone center slot. The cards appeared facedown on the field in front of Conklin.

"That's it for me." the brown-haired Obelisk finished.

Meanwhile, Jaden, Syrus, Rakaia, Rose, Alexis, Mindy, Jasmine, Chris, Bella, and Sega finally emerged into the arena on the upper level, and Jasmine was the first to reach the railing and see what was going on.

"Look!" she alerted her friends. "The duel just started!"

The others joined her, and looked down at the stage.

"Hey, those are Chazz's ex-lackies!" Syrus exclaimed, pointing at the two male Obelisks.

"Why is Ken dueling them?" asked Bella. "And on her own, too?"

While they were mulling it over, Rakaia then turned to Rose.

"Didn't you say Ken and Dr. Crowler got into it yesterday?" he asked.

The look on Rose's face said it all. This was all Dr. Crowler's doing. Back on the stage, Ken was getting ready to start her turn.

"I'm up!" the gamer duelist called, drawing her card.

She scanned her hand to figure out a good opening move, and she spotted a card she could use.

"Looks like you get to come out first, dude." Ken said, smiling at the card. "Let's give a Duel Academy welcome to Tidus, the Fayth's Dream!"

She held it up and placed it down on her dueldisk. The card appeared face-up on the field, and a blond-haired teenager emerged from the card armed with a crystal-blue sword. He wore an open yellow jacket with a white hoodie which revealed the silver pendant around his neck, a blue pauldron was attached to his shoulder with armor and a gauntlet attached to his left arm, while he wore a black glove on his other hand. He also wore a pair of dark dungarees with the left trouser sleeve shorter than the right, which bore the Zanarkand Abe team's symbol, a belt was strapped around his waist with a silver chain attached to it, and a pair of yellow and black shoes. He had 1400 ATK. Tidus twirled the sword around in his hand once and gripped the hilt tightly.

"So, this is your arena?" he asked, looking back at the gamer duelist. "Not bad, but the ones in Luca and Zanarkand were a lot bigger and cooler."

"Yeah, yeah," muttered Ken. "Everyone's a critic."

She made a mental note to thank Auron for the help in making sure the others in the deck knew what was going on. While it took hours to explain, and having to call on Hailey and her Duel Spirit, Athena, for help, they finally succeeded. Ken took out another card and placed it in the Spell and Trap Card slot.

"Next, I activate a Continuous Spell Card called Black Magic," the gamer duelist announced. "With it, I can return a monster from my hand to the deck and shuffle it, and the attribute of the monster determines the effect."

"Big whoop." responded Topher.

"Let me tell you what each of the effects are: If I send a DARK monster, I can destroy a monster you guys have on the field, WIND lets me return a card on the field back to the owner's hand, FIRE allows me to deal damage 100x the sent monster's level, WATER causes you to discard a random card from your hand, LIGHT drains half of your monster's ATK or DEF pts., but my favorite is the EARTH's effect, which I'll activate right now. I'll return Kimahri, the Ronso Guardian from my hand to the deck, and shuffle it to cast Stone."

After placing said card into her deck and shuffling it, the Spell Card began to glow and the EARTH attribute symbol lit up on it in a black glow. Topher then looked down to see that the gem on his dueldisk was blinking red.

"Hey, what gives?!" he demanded.

"I casted Stone." replied Ken. "When I activate that effect, your turn is skipped along with my Battle Phase this turn."

Both Topher and Conklin glared angrily at her, while the audience let out a collective gasp.

"Nice move." commented Alexis. "With cards like that, maybe in our next duel she could actually beat me."

"Provided you don't pull the same stunt as last time." said Bella.

Ken took another card from her hand and placed it facedown in another of the Spell and Trap Card slots, which in turn appeared in hologram form on the field facedown.

"I end my turn with a facedown." she announced. "Now it's-Oh, wait, your turn is skipped."

Topher gritted his teeth, his face turning as red as a Slifer Red student's jacket. Ken chuckled to herself as she drew the top card from her deck.

"Looks like I get to go again." the gamer duelist said, smiling. "And to kick it off, I play Pot of Greed, and draw twice more."

After placing the card in the graveyard slot, she drew two more cards, and smiled upon seeing one of them.

"Right on!" she exclaimed. "I'm gonna play Cloud the Mystic Mercenary, Attack Mode!"

Cloud emerged onto the field in a shower of golden light and gripped the Fusion Sword in his hands. The Fusion Sword was a large sword made from six different sized swords combined into one. He had 1600 ATK. Then Ken took another card from her hand and opened the Field Spell card compartment in her dueldisk.

"Now, let's take a little trip, shall we?" she announced, placing the card inside. "Fasten your seatbelts, ladies and gentlemen, we're going to Zanarkand!"

A blinding white light shone from the dueldisk and blinded all within the arena. The light faded, and Jaden and the group up by the railing were the first to see what happened. They looked around to see that the duel was now taking place in a futuristic metropolis which was built over a large body of water. The duelists on the stage now stood on a platform which looked like a sports stadium field.

"Wait, is this the Dream Zanarkand, or the real one?" asked Jaden.

"Who are you asking?" Alexis asked, turning to him. "Because I'll tell you now, I have never played a Final Fantasy game in my life."

"Me neither." agreed Jasmine.

Rakaia and Syrus stared at them, and shook their heads. Bella caught this and glared at them.

"You know, some girls play video games, and some don't." she told them. "Like some boys dance ballet, and some don't."

"Touche." responded Syrus.

Getting back to the duel, Ken had just activated another Spell Card.

"I activate another Continuous Spell card called White Magic," she announced, as another Spell card appeared beside the Black Magic card in hologram form. "It's effects work like my Black Magic card, but I have to take a monster from my graveyard and put it back in the deck, so be careful which teammate you take out. It could hurt you. Moving on, I activate my Black Magic card again."

Conklin flinched as he watched his opponent place a card from her hand into her deck. This time though, the DARK attribute symbol began to glow on the Black Magic card hologram with a dark purple light.

"Now I cast 'Death', which destroys a monster on your side of the field." declared Ken. "Like the set monster you have over there."

Conklin and Topher watched as their only monster shattered into pieces, and went to the graveyard.

"Alright, let's take it to their life points, boys!" Ken commanded, grinning. "Cloud, you're up first!"

Cloud gripped the sword in his hand and rushed forward with a yell. Then Conklin thrusted out a hand.

"Not so fast, geek!" he interrupted. "I play a Trap called Begone, Knave! When a monster deals damage in battle, it goes back to the hand after the attack's finished!"

Ken paused in her attack to think out her move. If she had Cloud continue the attack, Conklin and Topher would lose a nice chunk of life points. On the downside, she'd lose a strong player for another turn.

"We go through with the first attack." Cloud spoke suddenly. "Tidus, you wait."

"Aww, that's no fun." groaned Tidus.

Ken nodded at Cloud, and looked at Conklin.

"We continue our attack!" she announced. "Cloud, attack with Braver Slash Attack!"

Cloud rushed forward again and leapt into the air. He gave a yell as he raised his sword over his head, then slashed down at Conklin, who yelled in pain. The brown-haired Obelisk staggered backward as his and his teammate's life points dropped down to 6000 from 8000.

"Normally, you would've taken a 1600 pt. hit from Cloud, but Zanarkand increases all of my monsters' ATK and DEF pts. their level times a hundred." explained Ken. "I end my turn here."

"It's about time!" responded Conklin. "Now time for some real card playing!"

He drew his card, and looked at it before holding it up.

"I play Reload, and it works like this: I send all the cards in my hand back to the deck, then I shuffle and redraw the same number I put in!" he announced. "Now, let's see what Lady Luck has in store for me in this duel!"

Conklin placed the remaining four cards in his hand back in his deck, and shuffled it, then replaced the deck back into the slot, and drew the top four cards from it. Upon seeing what cards he drew, Conklin grinned.

"Not bad at all," he said, placing a card down on his dueldisk. "I remove an EARTH monster from my graveyard from the game so I can Special Summon the Rock Spirit in Attack Mode!"

The ground began to rumble with Ken and Tidus looking from side to side to figure out where it was coming from. Suddenly, the ground broke open, and a warrior dressed in dark gray medieval armor armed with a staff leapt out from underground. He landed on the ground in front of Conklin and glared at Tidus and Ken. He had 1700 ATK.

"He's almost as tough as Tidus." Alexis pointed out, looking down at the new monster. "Ken's going to have a hard time taking that down."

"Why?" asked Syrus. "Rock Spirit's only 100 pts. weaker than Tidus, and when Ken resummons Cloud, Cloud can easily beat him because he's 300 pts. stronger than the Rock Spirit."

"You forget, the Rock Spirit has a special effect. During Ken's Battle Phase, Rock Spirit's ATK goes up by 300."

Jaden looked back down at the duel with a gulp.

"She's gonna need a tougher monster out on the field." he muttered.

Conklin took another two cards from his hand and placed one on the Monster Card zone slot next to the one where the Rock Spirit was, and set the other one in the slot next to his Trap card. Two facedown card holograms appeared on the field in the same was as his previous turn beside his active cards.

"Alright, geek, you're up again, but this time, don't bore us." Conklin told his opponent.

"Geez, my pain-in-the-neck sibs are easier to get along with than you." Ken grumbled, as she drew her card. "Cloud, time to get back in the action!"

Cloud appeared back onto the field beside Tidus in a shower of gold light, and stood still, waiting patiently for his time to move.

"Take out his facedown monster! Braver Slash Attack!" yelled Ken.

Cloud moved forward to attack again, but this time, the attack would not get through.

"Not so fast!" shouted Conklin. "I've got another Trap for you and your buddy! Go, Magic Cylinder!"

His set card flipped up, and two purple and yellow cylinders appeared in mid-air and one of them began glowing with a purple light. Cloud's eyes widened in shock as he felt himself lose control of his body and watched helplessly as he slashed at the cylinder, creating a large wind sickle, which was sucked into the cylinder. The second one began to glow now and the wind sickle shot out of it like a bat out of hell, and rocketed towards Ken.

"Heads up!" yelped Tidus.

"Bummer." groaned Ken.

The wind sickle came closer and closer until it ripped through her torso. Ken gripped a part of her blazer where her chest was as her life points fell to 6000 as well. The two sides were now tied in life points.

"Hang in there!" yelled Sega.

"Shake it off, Kenster!" agreed Taryn.

_"Easier said than done, guys."_ Ken thought, rubbing her forehead. _"For a couple of dimwitted jerks, these dudes are pretty good."_

She took the last card in her hand and set it in her dueldisk.

"I'll end my turn with a facedown." the gamer duelist finished. "And that'll do."

"Finally!" said Topher. "I get to have a turn!"

He drew a card from his deck and examined his hand.

"First thing I'm going to do is sacrifice my partner's facedown monster in order to bring out one of my big guns!" he declared.

Conklin's set monster shattered like glass, then the pixels reforms into a green-skinned demon in purple robes and blood red and gold-trimmed armored top with a matching helm with blue orbs decorated on each side of the headpiece. The front of the costume was decorated with a piece that looked like a skull underneath the collar of the armor over the robes, and a centerpiece that resembled a face expressing sadness or misery on the collar. This fiend had 2450 ATK.

"In the word of Dorothy Zbornak: 'Whoa'." observed Ken.

"That's putting it mildly." muttered Tidus.

"Next I play a handy little Spell called Riryoku and sap the strength of your soldier pal there by half his ATK and add it to mine!" Topher continued, holding up another card.

Cloud stared at him, confused as to what he meant, then felt a sharp pain in his chest and felt suddenly fatigued. Dropping to his knees, Cloud grabbed at his chest where his heart was, and watched as a small blue orb floated out of it, then gently headed towards the fiend monster. Dark Ruler Ha Des' ATK shot up by 1000, making it 3450 now.

"Uh-oh." gulped Ken.

Dark Ruler Ha Des then raised a hand towards Tidus, who began to glow with an eerie red light.

"Destroy that twerp!" commanded Topher. "Nightmare Crush!"

Tidus let out a yell as he was destroyed, as Ken's points took another hit, leaving her with 4250. Cloud then turned his glare towards Dark Ruler Ha Des.

"You'll pay for that!" he declared.

"First thing's first, Cloud, Tidus needs to make a comeback." said Ken. "And with my Trap card, Hero's Return, he'll be back in just a sec!"

Her facedown card flipped up, and within seconds, Tidus emerged from the card, completely unharmed.

"That was not fun." he spoke, shaking his head.

Topher chuckled to himself, as he watched as his monster disappeared from the field and returned to his hand, due to the effect of his partner's Trap card, then took two other cards from his hand. He placed one of them down in one of his Spell and Trap card zone's slot, which reappeared in hologram form facedown.

"I play a card facedown, then activate a Continuous Spell card of my own called Two-Man Cell Battle." he announced, placing the other card in the slot beside the first. "When it's the end of our turns, the turn player gets to bring out a Level 4 monster. No more, no less. And since it's the end of my turn, I'll bring out my Ghoul with an Appetite in Attack Mode."

He took another card from his hand, and placed it onto the dueldisk, causing a large, obese, purple monster with pointy arms, skinny arms, and stitches in it's stomach to appear onto the field. It had 1600 ATK.

"I've seen more life in our Intro to Duel History class than this big fella." Hailey commented, grimacing.

"How can you tell?" asked Laura.

"Because I can keep my eyes open long enough to know."

Ken meanwhile began her turn, and drew her card. As she did this, she saw Auron standing beside her in spirit form.

"My turn." he spoke.

"Right." Ken nodded, grinning. "I sacrifice Tidus in order to summon Auron, the Unsent Guardian!"

Tidus disappeared in a vortex, and in his place appeared Auron, no longer in his ghost-like spirit form. In this form, he had 2000 ATK, which went up to 2600 with Zanarkand's effect.

"Kick their butts, guys!" Jaden yelled, pumping his fist in the air.

"After I activate my White Magic's effect," Ken spoke, as she took a card from her graveyard slot. "By returning Tidus to the deck, I can cast Shell on Cloud, and he can't be destroyed by card effects until the end of Conklin's turn."

She shuffled the card into her deck, as Cloud started glowing in a light blue aura.

"Now, let's rock 'em, boys!" commanded Ken. "Auron, you're up first! Time for a little demon slaying! Shooting Star Strike!"

Auron took his arm out of the sleeve, and gripped his katana in both hands, then dashed forward. Topher then decided to make his move now.

"Just what I was hoping for!" he laughed, gleefully. "Go, Justi-Break!"

His set card flipped up, and suddenly the field exploded, causing it to be filled with smoke. The audience gasped, some of them leaping out of their seats, while Jaden and his friends leaned on the railing a little, nervously staring down at the duel.

"Oh, no!" moaned Syrus. "That Trap destroys all Effect Monsters the moment a Normal Monster on the user's side of the field is attacked!"

"But Cloud's a Normal Monster." Rakaia reminded him.

"Auron isn't." Jaden pointed out.

The smoke cleared enough on Conklin and Topher's side of the field first to reveal his Rock Spirit was destroyed.

"So much for your monk friend." chuckled Conklin.

"That's what you think!" Ken shot back, smiling. "Auron's not going anywhere because of his special ability! He can't be destroyed by your card effects or by battle because he's an Unsent being!"

Conklin gasped in shock, and watched as Auron emerged from the smoke.

"Pray, now!" yelled the warrior monk.

With a yell, he swung his sword like a baseball bat, and hit the zombie monster with the side of the blade. The monster sailed into the air and exploded upon crashing into the wall, while Topher and Conklin's life points dropped by another 1000, leaving them with 5000.

"He's outta there!" cheered Rakaia.

"Now they're wide open for a direct attack!" added Rose.

As Auron returned to Ken's hand, Ken nodded at Cloud, who moved in to attack now.

"Cloud, attack 'em directly!" she shouted.

Cloud slashed at Conklin, who grunted in pain for a moment, and grabbed at his chest, while his team's points dropped by 2000. Cloud vanished from the field and returned to Ken's hand. The elder Obelisk student then took it, and held it up.

"Now, I'm gonna use your buddy's card and bring Cloud back to the field." she said, as Cloud re-emerged onto the field. "That's it for me this turn."

Conklin drew his card, and looked at it, frowning, then held it up.

"I activate my Goblin's Secret Remedy, and increase our points by 600." he declared, holding it up. "That and a facedown monster is all I can do here. My partner will take you out on his next turn."

As another card appeared on the field in a set position, Ken began her turn, and smiled at the card she had just drawn.

"It's all comin' together now." she grinned. "I didn't think I'd be pulling it off on the first try. First, Cloud, you're dismissed for now."

Cloud nodded and vanished from the field in a flash of light.

"Now, Auron, return to the field!" Ken commanded, as she placed another card on the dueldisk.

Auron appeared onto the field once again, his arm in his sleeve once again, while his sword laid on his shoulder, his other hand gripping the hilt.

"Next, I play Gathering the Forces, it's a very crucial part of my deck since it allows me to bring out a monster called 'Heroic Party'." explained Ken.

"What's so heroic about a party?" asked Conklin.

At this, Ken and Auron slowly held a hand to their foreheads, shaking their heads. Ignoring him, Ken continued her move, and a small white mist cloud appeared beside Auron, with a pair of silhouettes standing in it. This new monster had 700 ATK.

"Now Heroic Party works a little differently depending on who it's equipped to," she explained. "When equipped to a certain member of the team, something cool happens."

"Like what?" asked Topher.

"You know, I'm glad you asked. Because I'm removing Auron and Heroic Party from the game, in order to bring out one of my toughest teams! Introducing the Legendary Trio of Spira: Auron, Jecht, and Braska!"

With that, the mist turned into a hurricane that grew large enough to swallow up Auron, too. After a moment, the hurricane disappeared, and Auron now stood with two other men. One was a tall man in red and violet red robes that looked like rose petals overlapping each other, and a high tan collar with a sash tied below it with a strange pattern which resembled many circles being connected by lines. On his head was a dark blue headwrap which fell loose around the front of his neck, and a headgear was placed over it around his forehead which appeared to be a white band with a pointed piece on each side of it, and a blue gem on the front, with two paler blue tassel's on each side of the headpiece decorated with a beaded ornament. The other man was a muscular man with tanned skin, long black hair, and red eyes. He wore a pair of black shorts similar to Tidus', an orange and red sash around his right leg with a weird black pattern at the bottom of it, and a metal gauntlet on his left arm similar to Tidus'. On his head was a red headband, which was knotted at the side. Together, the trio's ATK came up to 2400, then shot up to 3000 because of Zanarkand's effect.

"That's not good." grimaced Topher.

"That's nothing, we're just getting started." said Ken. "Now I get to play my Trap card! Final Fantasy!"

Her last facedown card flipped up and six orbs flew out of it, four of them shooting towards Topher and Conklin, while the remaining two floated over either side of Ken and changed into the numbers "5" and "6". Two of the other four orbs floated over on either side of Conklin and became the numbers "3" and "4", while the remaining two floated on either side of Topher and became "1" and "2".

"What's going on?!" demanded Topher.

"It's my Trap's effect activating." explained Ken. "All it takes is a few spins, and whatever it lands on, well, you better hope it lands on something that won't hurt your game."

As she finished, "1" lit up in a red light, then "2", and it continued like that in numerical order for a little bit, with the trio and their monsters watching in anticipation.

"How much damage could a card called 'Final Fantasy' do?" asked Hailey.

"Well, I've heard that in at least one game, 'Final Fantasy' is also the name of a group attack." explained Peter. "Where certain characters attack with their signature skills."

"The fourth game?" asked Taryn.

"Close. After Years."

The roulette of glowing numbers finally stopped and the number "5" was the only one still lit up.

"Okay, we landed on a '5', now what happens?" asked Topher.

"I get to draw five cards." replied Ken. "Could've been worse, it could've landed on 3 or 1. '3' destroys all your cards, including your Trap, and I could've scored an easy 3k hit on your points. '1' would've halved your score."

She drew five cards from her deck, as the Trap card disappeared.

"Not bad at all." grinned Ken. "But before I show what I drew, my Legendary Trio of Spira is gonna clean your monster's clock! Triple Threat Mayhem!"

Auron and Jecht crossed their swords together in the air, and Braska held up his staff in the middle. The three lit up with a bright light, the the weapons were lowered and the orb of light shot at Conklin's monster, and destroyed it, but not without it flipping face-up, revealing to be a Stone Statue of the Aztecs.

"Now, a couple of things before I end my turn." announced Ken. "I play Dimension Explosion. This Spell returns my Trio to the Extra Deck, and we get to bring back all monsters we have that were removed from the game."

Auron and Heroic Party returned to her side of the field in Attack Mode, while Conklin brought back his monster that was removed from play to bring out his late Rock Spirit. The monster was a Guardian Statue, which was a large statue with even larger arms and fists, and a pointed head. It had 1400 DEF. Then three more facedown cards appeared beside Ken's two active Spell cards.

"I'll end my turn there with three facedowns, and use Topher's Two-Man Cell Battle to bring out Tifa, the Bravehearted Monk!" finished Ken.

A vortex appeared beside Auron, and a brown-haired woman with reddish-brown eyes leapt out from it and landed on the ground in a kneeling stance. She rose back up to her feet and cracked her knuckles eagerly. Tifa wore a black zip-up vest over a white shirt, a pair of black gloves with a silver ring on one finger, a pair of black shorts with a cloth folded around her waist and behind her back but at a longer length, and a pair of boots. Her ATK was 1000, which then went up to 1400 because of the Field Spell. Topher then drew his card to begin his turn and smiled at it.

"I play my own Pot of Greed!" he announced, holding it up. "So now I can draw two cards from my deck!"

He placed it in the graveyard slot and drew twice from the top of his deck, then placed them in his hand. Topher then took another card from his hand, and held it up.

"Next is my Graceful Charity, with this, I draw three cards and discard two!" he continued, placing it and two other cards from his graveyard, and drawing three more cards from his deck. "Then I sacrifice my partner's monster and summon the mighty Brain Golem!"

Guardian Statue disappeared from his and his partner's side of the field, and in it's place was a massive orange creature that resembled a mutated brain, with many eyes on it, and two violet blue tentacles as arms. It had 2500 ATK.

"Freaky-looking thing, ain't it?" Taryn wondered aloud.

"It might be freaky-looking to you, Taryn, but that was someone else's baby once." Jessi pointed out.

"Next, I equip my Brain Golem with a Black Pendent," Topher continued, placing a card into his dueldisk. "This raises it's ATK by another 500 pts., just enough to even outmatch your grandpa there."

Auron raised an eyebrow at that remark, while Topher took the last card from his hand, and held it up.

"Finally, it's time to get rid of my partner's Trap card with my Mystical Space Typhoon!" he declared.

A wind kicked up around the field, and Conklin's Begone, Knave! Trap card was destroyed. Ken gulped realizing that now it meant that Brain Golem would be sticking around for a while.

"Now, attack, Golem!" ordered Conklin. "Your target, Heroic Party!"

The Brain Golem thrusted it's tentacles at the silhouette monster on Ken's side of the field, and destroyed it on impact. Ken raised an arm to shield herself from the attack as her life points dropped from 4250 to 1950.

"Don't think you're out of the woods yet, because my Golem has a neat special effect of it's own." Topher announced, as his Brain Golem started glowing with a golden light. "When it destroys a LIGHT monster, it can attack again. And it looks like your monster was a LIGHT attribute."

Ken looked down at her facedown cards.

_"I'll save this for after he's destroyed another monster,"_ she thought. _"Then after he's destroyed all of my LIGHT monsters, I can use it to take a huge chunk out of their score."_

"Now, take out the girl!" commanded Topher.

Auron and Ken watched as Brain Golem thrusted it's tentacles at Tifa who raised her arms in a crossing gesture to defend herself. Unfortunately, she too was destroyed, and Ken's life points dropped down to 350.

"Ken, now!" yelled Auron.

"Right!" Ken replied, nodding. "I activate my Trap Card! Go, Limit Break!"

One of her facedown cards flipped up, and Auron began to glow in a thin red aura.

"Why is she using Limit Break on a Final Fantasy X character?" asked Jessi. "She should've used it on Tifa."

"Because I can only activate this if I had more than one monster on the field, and one of them was destroyed in battle," Ken answered, as Auron stepped forward. "With Auron still on the field, I can deal 2600 pts. of damage straight to his life points. Now, Auron, strike back with your Bushido Tornado attack!"

Auron removed his arm from his sleeve, then unsheathed his sword, and got into a fighting stance. He concentrated his power and a whirlwind began forming around him.

"What the-" Conklin gasped, taking a step back.

"This...is for the fallen!" shouted Auron.

He gave a mighty roar as he swung his sword, spinning in a circle once, and the whirlwind moved forward towards Topher and Conklin. Once encasing them inside, Auron took the jug from his belt and held it up. Rearing his arm back, the guardian launched it into the air until it crashed into the tornado, and the jug shattered upon impact. The tornado then suddenly burst into flames, and began damaging the two Obelisks' life points. After a few seconds, the fiery tornado finally died down, and Topher and Conklin's points sunk from 3600 to 1000.

"Nice move, but that won't protect you come our next turn!" declared Conklin. "Once we get rid of that old geezer on your field, you're history!"

_"He's right."_ Ken thought, looking down at her remaining facedown cards._ "All I got are my two facedowns, and playing one of them is a very risky move. Auron may be my strongest monster on the field right now, but even he and his special ability can't take down their Brain Golem."_

She drew her card, and gasped upon looking at it.

_"Vincent Valentine, the Berserker."_ she gasped, mentally. _"I can end this duel in two ways after I bring him out. One: I can use his effect and end the duel this turn. Or Option 'B', I can attack and take out his Golem before it gets any stronger."_

"No." a new voice spoke.

Ken looked to the side and saw the spirit of the card in her hand standing beside her. Vincent was a man with long-black hair, with a red bandana covering the forehead, with his red eyes peeking out from underneath. He wore a black shirt with a tattered red cloak with a high collar over it, and a pair of black pants with brown boots with long, pointed steel toes. His left arm was encased in a golden, clawed gauntlet, while the left had just a fingerless leather glove on it, and a pink ribbon tied around the arm.

"Cloud can finish this." he continued. "Use your two other cards to end it."

"...I'd argue with you, but my gut says to roll with it." Ken muttered, putting Vincent's card in her hand. "Alright, I play my facedown card! Call of the Haunted!" she added, loud enough for her opponents to hear.

Her facedown card flipped up, and began to glow in a pale blue light.

"With this, I can bring back any monster from my graveyard." the gamer duelist continued. "Like Cloud the Mystic Mercenary!"

Cloud re-appeared onto the field in a flash of light and readied his sword.

"Take out his Brain Golem!" yelled Ken. "Braver Slash Attack!"

Cloud raced over to the opponent's side of the field, and leapt into the air.

"Is she crazy?!" asked Alexis.

"If that attack connects, she'll lose!" added Syrus.

Jaden, Rakaia, and Rose remained silent, as they stared down at the duel. Meanwhile, Topher and Conklin burst into laughter.

"The geek's brain must've been fried from too much video games!" cackled Topher.

"Your monster's weaker than Topher's Brain Golem." Conklin reminded their opponent.

Ken just scowled at them, and her facedown card flipped up.

"What's that?" asked Conklin.

"It's called 'Overdrive', and it's a little like Limit Break" replied Ken. "I can only activate this when a monster on my side of the field attacks. Topher's gotta draw a card, and I have to guess what kind of card he drew. If I'm right, Cloud's ATK pts. double, if not, I lose."

Topher drew the top card from his deck and held it up with the back facing Ken.

"Alright, gamer geek." he called, smirking tauntingly. "Which is it?"

"I only have three to choose from." responded Ken. "I pick...Spell card."

Topher's taunting grin turned into a dreadful grimace as he lowered the card slightly.

"Then that means Overdrive takes full effect." said Ken.

Cloud's ATK went from 2000 to 4000, as he sliced through the Brain Golem, destroying it. Topher and Conklin yelled as their life points hit 0, and fell to their knees. The Zanarkand Field Spell disappeared, and so did the monsters. Cloud and Auron returned to their spirit forms, and joined Ken in walking back to their friends in the bleachers behind them.

"That wasn't bad, guys." commented Jessi. "But Ken, why did you use Limit Break with Auron and Overdrive with Cloud?"

Ken was about to respond, but stopped as they were met with Jaden, Syrus, Rakaia, Rose, Alexis, Mindy, Jasmine, Chris, Sega, and Bella, who rushed down the stairs to meet them.

"Hey, where've you guys been?" asked Ken.

"We skipped class, and rescued Jasmine from a dueling monkey." replied Jaden.

"You guys skipped class?!" Hailey started, stepping forward. "Wait a minute, did he just say 'dueling monkey'?" she added, looking around at her friends.

Alexis, Mindy, Jasmine, Sega, Chris, and Syrus just looked at one another, while Jaden, Rose, Rakaia, and Bella nodded.

"What kind of school are they running here?" asked Cloud.

"Good question." replied Auron.

"I've got the whole duel on film, too." Bella announced, holding up the camcorder.

Jaden, Syrus, Alexis, Mindy, Jasmine, Rakaia, Rose, Sega, and Chris quickly rounded on her.

"Wait, I thought Prof. Banner told you to give those guys that video." Mindy said, confused.

"He said to give them the tape," Bella reminded her. "He didn't say which one to give."

"So, what was on it?" asked Jaden.

Meanwhile- The Lab- The Boss' Room-

One of the suits walked in and stood in attention before his boss' desk.

"Sir, we've destroyed the evidence." he announced.

"Good." the older man grunted.

The suit exited the room once again, and the old man spun around in his chair.

"The last thing we needed was a reason for the authorities to shut us down, or for our superior to know." he said.

* * *

It was a lot easier to work with a Final Fantasy deck than it was to work with the RAD deck. I have some of the cards already made, and they'll be uploaded to Deviant Art soon. I know that Auron is a FFX character, and Cloud is a FFVII character, but Overdrive and Limit Break are pretty much the same thing.

Hailey Ryan is owned by Peach Wookiee, Luna Tenshi, and Crayus and Rakaia Meiyo are obviously owned by Rakaia The Dragon Duelist, Sega Rivera is owned by Sega herself, Will Rosen is owned by 15animefreak15, Laura is owned by Hyruleepona, Taryn and Jessi Yuki are owned by Dyusu, Rose Renea is owned by maymay85985, and Peter Salvatore is owned by a1993. As for my OCs, Ken, Matt, Kenneth, Chris, Bella, and Ramon, they're owned by me and my Duel Club familia, along with Tony Casimir, Ms. Erin Lake, and Underground Duelists Zero and Fang. Don't own the original series part of the plot, but I did tweak with it a bit. The main plot is owned by Kazuki Takahashi and everyone else who helped bring Yu-Gi-Oh! GX into this world. Robot Alchemic Drive is developed by Sandlot, and published by Enix, so I guess they own the game. The Meganite and Volgara cards are being posted up on Deviant Art. Final Fantasy is created by Hironobu Sakaguchi, and since I'm using Auron's appearance from the Kingdom Hearts II game, I'm adding a disclaimer for them, too. Kingdom Hearts series were created by Tetsuya Nomura and Shinji Hashimoto, both games series were developed by Square Enix, formerly known as Square before merging with Enix. Do not own Square Enix, or anything made, published, or developed by Square Enix.

Also, guys, please check out the poll on my profile to vote on what you'd like to see for the next chapter. It closes on the 24th at 11:59 PM.


	26. Holiday Spirits Part 1

Ch.26- Holiday Spirits Pt.1-

Outside Duel Academy-

"...Pull!...Pull!...Pull!..."

Several of the students tugged on the ropes tied to a large tree, and tried to pull it up the snowy hill. Among the group were Jaden, Chumley, Matt, Peter, Kenneth, and Ramon, who were all dressed in their winter wear.

"I'm losing the feeling in my hands!" yelled a random Slifer student.

"We're almost there!" Jaden told him, as he pulled.

The group continued to pull until they finally reached the top of the slope, where another group of students were waiting. Jaden collapsed on his butt, panting heavily, as he finally released the rope.

"There's my workout for the day." Chumley wheezed, as he doubled over on all fours.

"It could've been worse." Peter reassured him. "We'd have to help bring trees to each of the dorms, too."

"Come on, guys." Jaden spoke, as he stood up again. "Let's grab some cocoa. That'll warm our holiday spirits for sure."

"I'm down with that, Jay." agreed Kenneth.

The six friends began walking down the slope once again to the Slifer Dorm, and saw Prof. Banner, dressed in a black coat and brown boots, hanging up Christmas lights on the roof.

"Hey, Prof. Banner!" Jaden greeted, waving at him.

"Good afternoon, kids!" Prof. Banner responded, waving at them. "Could one of you hold the ladder steady for me?"

Chumley and Matt headed over to him, and grabbed hold of the ladder's sides, while the others stood around them.

"Man, I love the holidays." Jaden said, grinning. "No school, you get to spend time with your pals, and you get all the cocoa, cookies, and candy canes your heart desires!"

"Actually, Jaden, not everyone is staying here for winter break." Matt pointed out. "We do want to spend the holidays with our families."

"Yeah, my family and I are gonna volunteer at our church on Christmas Eve." said Kenneth.

Jaden looked a little bummed out at the news, and Prof. Banner climbed down the ladder at last.

"Not to worry, Jaden." he reassured his student. "I'll be staying here for the holidays with Ms. Lake. We've got plenty of activities for the kids staying here over break. Now, let's go inside, so we don't catch cold."

Obelisk Blue Girls' Dorm-

While the boys were taking five, several of the female members of the group were back at their dorm, making final preparations for before they left the island.

"...Okay, a little to the left..." said Jasmine. "...No, no, my left..."

She was walking backwards into the cafeteria, with Mindy beside her, apparently leading something or someone inside. Inside the cafeteria were Alexis, Hailey, and Luna, who were hanging up the Christmas stockings.

"What are you guys doing?" asked Alexis.

"We got someone to help us with our job." replied Mindy.

"Who?" asked Luna.

Her answer came in the form of someone carrying a ton of presents stacked in their arms. The only visible part of the person walking into the room was a pair of black slacks, and blue winter boots. The person carrying the bundle of gifts slowly walked into the room, trying their hardest not to drop anything or trip. Alexis, Hailey, and Luna tilted their heads to the side to get a better look at the new visitor, and saw that it was Ken.

"Need any help, buddy?" Luna called to her.

"No thanks." Ken responded, grinning. "I got this. I'm totally fine."

She took another step forward and felt herself stepping on a round object, then stumbled forward. The other girls watched the gamer duelist yell as she headed for the wall, and crashed into it. The presents flew into the air, and Ken quickly leapt to her feet and ran around. One by one, they landed in her arms in the same way they were stacked previously. The other girls applauded for their friend's performance, while the latter began moving to where she was supposed to go, chuckling nervously as she did so. Alexis then rounded on Jasmine, who was now sitting in a chair.

"You couldn't have helped her?" she asked.

"She's getting twenty bucks for it." replied Jasmine.

Alexis just shook her head at her friend, and continued to hang stockings up around the room. Just then, Ms. Lake walked inside, dressed in a dark blue windbreaker and matching sweatpants, with a large package in her hand.

"Hey, girls." she greeted, a big smile on her face. "All excited about the holidays?"

"I know I am." Hailey replied, as she handed Alexis another stocking. "So, you going to the party, Ms. Lake?"

"Of course, I wouldn't miss it for the world."

CRASH!

The five of them whirled around at the sudden noise, and saw that Ken was on the ground, half-buried by the many Christmas gifts. They rushed over to her, and saw her legs kicking around, like a turtle stuck on it's back.

"You alright under there?" called Alexis.

The pair of legs began to flail around a little more wildly now, indicating that she needed help. The other girls started taking each of the items and stacking it neatly by the wall, until finally Ken emerged with a deep gasp.

"Dude." she spoke, dizzily.

"So, when does the tournament begin?" asked Ms. Lake.

"The Dorm Tournaments begin in about thirty minutes." replied Luna. "All the students are to go back to their dorms, then wait for instructions, and head out to their dorms' designated arenas."

"Who's all dueling?"

Alexis, Luna, Mindy, and Jasmine raised their hands, while Ken simply looked at her mentor.

"You're not dueling, Ken?" asked Ms. Lake.

"I've got work to do," replied Ken.

"Right, you and Bastion are DJing the party."

Mindy sighed, and turned to her dormmates.

"The party is being DJed by a nerd and a geek." she commented. "This'll be fun."

"Uh, Mindy?" Ken spoke, tapping one of the present with her fingers, appearing very annoyed. "The geek can hear you, and she's going to go into Attack Mode in a second."

Mindy's response was a sheepish chuckle, while the others facepalmed at her. Then Ms. Lake remembered why she was there.

"Oh, before I forget," she spoke, handing Ken a package. "Here's yours. Now I have to go to the Ra dorm and give Matthew his."

Ken examined the package with raised eyebrows, and nodded.

"Wicked." the gamer duelist commented. "Thanks."

"I'll see you kids later." her teacher said, as she hurried out.

That left the remaining teenage girls in the room.

"So, who wants to help me get these by the tree?" asked Ken.

Slifer Red Dorm- Cafeteria-

Jaden gulped down the last of his hot chocolate, and set the mug on the table with a hearty sigh.

"That hit the spot!" he exclaimed.

Syrus, Chumley, Rakaia, and Rose stared at him with stunned looks. The five Slifers were seated at a single table, while waiting for the rest of their fellow dormmates to return. After all the students returned to their dorms, the dorm tournaments would begin at the arenas in the school. Peter, Matt, Kenneth, and Ramon returned to their dorms several minutes ago, and Jaden was already downing his seventh cup of hot cocoa.

"Keep this up, and there won't be any left over break." Rakaia said, exasperated.

"C'mon, Jay, save some for the rest of us." added Chumley.

"Don't worry, Chumley, there's enough to last all Winter Break." Prof. Banner reassured him. "I've thought ahead in case of a blizzard."

He sat at the table in the kitchen, drinking a cup of cocoa as well.

"Man, when do we get to duel?" asked Jaden. "I've gotta get my game on!"

Rakaia stared at him for a moment, then turned to his dorm headmaster.

"You wouldn't happen to have any decaf, would you?" he asked.

"That is the decaf cocoa." Prof. Banner responded, sweatdropping. "I gave the rest of you kids the actual cocoa. What, you didn't really think I'd do something as crazy as adding fuel to his fire, did you?"

"Who gets that crazy on decaf?!"

"Apparently Jaden."

The Slifers then began pouring into the cafeteria, chatting to one another, while taking off their winter coats and putting them on the coatracks. The group already seated by the kitchen looked at one another now, then at Jaden, as he began looking like he could explode with sheer excitement.

"It's almost time!" he chuckled.

"I hope Santa Claus delivers a tranquilizer gun in your stocking, Sy." Rakaia commented, before taking another drink of his cocoa.

Rose and Chumley looked at each other, confused, then turned to Syrus.

"You believe in Santa Claus?" asked Chumley.

Syrus merely stood up and quickly walked over to the kitchen to get more cocoa, wisely deciding to not say anything out of fear of being made fun of.

A little while later- Slifer Arena-

Soon enough, the tournaments began, and as predicted by many of the Slifers, Jaden had powered through to the finals, beating Syrus and Chumley, and Rose had lost her duel in the semi-finals in a very close match, leaving the E-Hero's final challenge to be...

"Ready to duel, hotshot?" asked Rakaia.

He stood across from Jaden, an eager grin on his face, and his dueldisk still activated.

"I've been waiting for this for a while now." the dragon duelist declared. "Your streak ends with me and my dragons."

"That's what you think, Rakaia." Jaden responded, also grinning. "Get your game on!"

"DUEL!"

The other Slifers watched the final duel in the tournament with anticipation, excitement, and awe. Jaden drew his card, and with that his turn began.

"Not a bad start." he declared. "First up, Elemental Hero Bubbleman in Defense Mode!"

With that, he placed the card onto his dueldisk, and Bubbleman emerged onto the field in a shower of bubbles, and knelt in a guarding stance, staring ahead at Rakaia.

"Next I'll throw down a facedown, and that's it for me." Jaden finished, setting a card in his dueldisk.

"I hope you're ready, Jaden." Rakaia told him, as he drew his card. "Because you're playing with fire now. Real fire."

He looked down at his hand, and smiled.

_"This is too easy."_ the dragon duelist thought, looking back up at Jaden. _"I better draw the duel out, I don't want my first battle with this guy to be a quick kill."_

"Alright, Jaden, I'm going to start out small, with my Ruby Dragon." he announced, holding up a card.

After placing it onto his dueldisk, a dragon armed to the teeth in red rubies and 1600 ATK, appeared onto the field. It glared at Jaden with glowing yellow eyes, and growled softly.

"That guy needs a leash." Syrus whimpered, nervously.

"Aw, he's friendly." Rakaia reassured him. "Just not in battle."

He scanned his hand again, and smirked, before looking back over at his monster.

"Let's draw some blood, girl!" the dragon duelist declared. "Attack his Bubbleman with Crimson Combustion!"

Ruby Dragon opened it's mouth and shot a crimson fireball out, and burned Bubbleman to a crisp. Jaden yelled as his monster was destroyed, but at least his life points remained intact.

"I activate my facedown card!" he called, his facedown card flipping up. "Go, Hero Signal!"

The Slifers and their headmaster watched as the E-Hero emblem appeared over their heads, and then Jaden rifled through his deck in search of the monster he was about to play.

"When you destroyed my monster, you triggered this card's effect, allowing me to play another Elemental Hero that's Level 4 or below." explained Jaden. "And I've got the perfect one in mind: Elemental Hero Burstinatrix!"

The inferno slowly evolved into a fiery hurricane which grew smaller and thinner until it formed into Elemental Hero Burstinatrix. She stood in Attack Mode, and stared down the Ruby Dragon.

"I set down a facedown of my own, and that'll do it for me." Rakaia concluded, as he set a card into his dueldisk.

"Good, because now things are really going to heat up!" Jaden said, drawing another card from his deck.

He placed the card he drew into his hand, and held up two others.

"Now it's time for a little fusion action!" the E-Hero duelist announced. "I play Polymerization, to fuse Avian and Burstinatrix to form the Elemental Hero Flame Wingman!"

Avian and Burstinatrix appeared onto the field together now, and leapt into the air, disappearing into the vortex. Within seconds, the fused Hero appeared onto the field, ready for battle.

_"Just the Hero I was waiting for."_ Rakaia thought, calmly.

"Flame Wingman, take out his Dragon with Infernal Rage!" ordered Jaden.

Flame Wingman rushed over to the Ruby Dragon and raised the hand with the dragon-head accessory attached to it. The mouth of the dragon spewed intense flames which devoured the opposing monster and destroyed it in seconds. Rakaia stood still, as the flames licked him as well, depleting him 500 of his life points, leaving him with 3500.

"Now for my Hero's superpower," Jaden added, smiling. "You take damage equal to your Ruby Dragon's own ATK pts.!"

Flame Wingman raised his arm a little, firing a jet of flames that consumed Rakaia, making him raise his arms to protect himself. His life points fell from 3500 to 1900 now.

"I think you've suffered enough, so I'll just let my Wroughtweiler chill in Defense Mode," Jaden spoke, placing a card onto his dueldisk. "And that'll do it."

Rakaia watched as the robotic canine appeared onto the field in a sitting position, and drew his card to start his turn.

_"Jaden, you're about to meet your doom yet again."_ he thought, smirking. _"If you thought Zane's Cyber End Dragon was awesome, wait 'til you see my Dragon. And it's not even of the Red Eyes variety."_

"I activate my Cost Down Spell," Rakaia said, as he held up two cards. "By discarding a card from my hand, I can level down all the monsters in my hand by two, and with the right monster, that'll spell trouble for you."

He discarded the two cards from his hand, and Jaden couldn't help but grin.

"Bring all that you've got, Rakaia!" he challenged.

"Oh, I will!" replied Rakaia. "Because I have the Flame Wingman's worst foe right here! The Prime Material Dragon!"

He placed the card down on his dueldisk, and a golden dragon that seemed to be made out of some kind of stone or mineral emerged onto the field in a bright glow. It had 2400 ATK.

"Now that is a dragon." Rose commented, in awe.

"And it's special abilities are even greater." Prof. Banner agreed, smiling. "Oh, Jaden will have a hard time taking this beast down since it can do more than outmatch the Flame Wingman in terms of strength, it's powers are also something to be feared."

Jaden looked over at him, confused, and then looked back at the new dragon.

"Now I activate my Monster Reborn, and use it to bring back the Dragon I discarded." Rakaia continued, as another card appeared onto his side of the field. "Like my Rare Metal Dragon."

A black, metallic quadrupedal dragon leapt out of the hologram, which shattered afterward, and the new beast roared at it's foes. It had 2400 ATK.

"Two monsters with 2400 ATK." Chumley gasped, surprised. "This could be bad."

"For Jaden, that is." Rakaia agreed, as his monster charged forward. "Metal Dragon, attack his Wroughtweiler!"

The Rare Metal Dragon roared again, and rammed it's horn into the Wroughtweiler, causing it to whine once, and shatter into pixels. Then two cards appeared in Jaden's graveyard slot, waiting for him to take it.

"Thanks, now I get to take back Avian and my Polymerization from the graveyard because of Wrought's special ability." Jaden said, as he took them.

"By all means, use them." Rakaia told him. "Go ahead, I end my turn."

Jaden stared at him, confused, as did the others.

"I don't get it." said Syrus. "Why didn't Rakaia take out Jay's Flame Wingman?"

"Because he's challenging Jaden to see what his monster's made of." Prof. Banner explained to him. "Rivals challenge each other to make them stronger, and wiser. The only question, my children, is will Jaden accept it? Will Jaden want to see what it is that makes the Prime Material Dragon so powerful?"

Syrus stared at him, as if understanding what he's saying now, and looked back at the duel. Jaden had already drawn his card, and was planning out his next move.

_"I would, if I knew what how to find out what his dragon can do."_ he thought, looking back up at the dragons. _"What do I have to do to find out what it can do? Do I have to attack it, or activate a certain type of card?"_

After another moment of pondering, he finally made up his mind. He opened his dueldisk's Field Spell compartment, and placed a card inside.

"I play Skyscraper!" he declared.

Rakaia smiled as buildings began to shoot up around them. The other Slifers watched the duel with intense gazes now.

"I don't know what makes that dragon of yours special, Rakaia, but it doesn't matter what monster I destroy, this duel is finished!" Jaden declared, bravely. "Flame Wingman, attack the Rare Metal Dragon!"

The Flame Wingman flew at the dragons on the opposing side of the field, and struck it down with his dragon-head hand. Rakaia remained calm, still smiling, as his life points dropped by 700. He had only 1200 points remaining now.

"Still grinning, Rakaia?" Jaden called, pumping his fist in midair. "Well, you won't be any longer, because now Flame Wingman's superpower will wipe out the rest of your life points with your Metal Dragon's attack!"

The Flame Wingman made to strike again, but then the Prime Material Dragon began to glow. A semi-transparent shield formed before Rakaia, and the flames from the Wingman hit it. However, much to most of the audience's surprise, instead of hitting 0, the life points began to rise. All the way up to 3600.

"But how?" Jaden asked, shocked.

"It's my Prime Material Dragon's superpower." explained Rakaia. "Effects like your Flame Wingman's are reversed. Instead of dealing damage, he's healing it. Your Flame Wingman's met his match, and next turn, he'll be taken down."

Jaden gulped, believing that he was right. Rakaia took Jaden's silence as a signal that meant that his turn was over, and drew his card.

"First off, let's clear the field with my Mystical Space Typhoon." he declared, holding up a card.

A fierce whirlwind began to pick up in the room, and the city-like scenery shattered like glass, causing the arena to once again appear in it's place. Now Jaden's Heroes no longer had their 1000 ATK pt. boost.

"Prime Material Dragon, destroy his Flame Wingman with Extinction Barrage!" commanded Rakaia.

The Prime Material Dragon fired a jet of bright yellow-orange flames from it's mouth, and roasted the Flame Wingman like a chicken. Jaden raised his arms to shield himself as his life points fell by 300.

"That's it for me, Jay." Rakaia announced. "Your turn now."

"Fine by me!" Jaden responded, a little shaky. "I draw!"

He drew his card, and looked at it. It was the Winged Kuriboh. The spirit of the little monster hooted at him, and winked.

_"Right, Winged Kuriboh,"_ Jaden agreed, mentally. _"We should've taken him down first, not the other one."_

"Alright, Winged Kuriboh on Defense!" he declared, out loud.

The fluffy little creature emerged onto the field, looking up at the mighty creature towering over it, and got into a defensive stance. Rakaia looked at the little spirit and he looked as if he was in thought about something.

"Next, I play my Pot of Greed Spell card!" Jaden continued, as a giant, creepy-looking pot appeared onto the field. "And now I get to draw two more cards!"

The pot shattered instantly when he drew two more cards from his deck. Jaden looked at the cards he drew and smiled.

"Alright, Rakaia, I made the mistake of sparing your dragon to see what he was made of, but now it's time to slay it!" he declared. "I play Transcendant Wings! With this, I can sacrifice my Winged Kuriboh and bring out it's Level 10 form!"

The hologram of the active card began to glow, then a bright orb of light floated out of it, and gently touched the Winged Kuriboh on the back. Instantly, upon contact, the light transformed into the LV10 Kuriboh's signature golden dragon helm with massive angelic wings.

"He's in for it now." said Syrus. "Winged Kuriboh LV10 can destroy all Attack Position monsters Jaden has out on the field, and then deal damage after the monsters' destruction!"

"Bring it on." Rakaia challenged, bravely.

"You got it!" Jaden responded, grinning. "Go, Winged Kuriboh!"

Winged Kuriboh hooted once, and it began to glow brightly. As it did, so did the Prime Material Dragon, as Rakaia discarded a card from his hand. Suddenly, Winged Kuriboh hooted again, and it was destroyed.

"How?!" Jaden asked, as the effects of the blast struck him.

"Prime Material Dragon's second effect is how." replied Rakaia. "I can discard a card from my hand to negate the effects of cards that try to destroy my own. Jaden, your Flame Wingman's superpower wasn't enough to kill me, and neither was your Winged Kuriboh at it's most powerful. You get one more shot, then you're out."

Jaden looked down at his hand once again.

_"The last cards I have are the Mirage of Nightmare and Avian."_ he spoke, mentally. _"I don't have anything now that can stand up to his dragon and it's powers. I have only one last chance to fight back, or I lose the duel."_

Rakaia watched as his opponent thought out what to do now, and something crossed his mind.

Flashback- Several Weeks ago-

_It was a little bit after the duel had ended. Zane had just given Rakaia his first loss at the Academy, and Rakaia took it well. However, the dragon duelist could not help but be in awe at the power of his opponent._

_"Why did you challenge me to a duel, Zane?" asked Rakaia. "I mean, no disrespect, but Jaden was also up for a duel. And you could really give the guy a run for his money."_

_"Maybe one of these days before I graduate." responded Zane. "Rakaia, when I duel, I don't like to always rush to win. I stop and take the time to teach my opponents, about my deck, about the kind of person I am, about how I duel, and I try to help them grow as a duelist. Like I've tried to do with my brother."_

_"That's really cool. Your brother must be as good a duelist as you."_

_Zane didn't comment on that. He turned and walked away with Rakaia watching, as the words of what he said echoed in his mind._

End Flashback-

_"Am I really going to throw away a chance to beat Jaden?"_ Rakaia wondered to himself. _"What the heck, the year is still young. I'll have plenty of other chances if I do lose this duel."_

He drew a card to begin his turn, took a card from his hand, and placed it into his dueldisk.

"I play a card facedown, and end my turn here." he stated.

The others glanced at him, surprised, as a card appeared in a set position behind the Prime Material Dragon. Why hadn't he attacked Jaden? Prof. Banner looked at his student with a questioning stare, and caught the look on Rakaia's face. A smile crept on the instructor's face, and he looked over at Jaden, who drew his card to start his turn.

"Alright, I play Avian in Defense Mode," Jaden announced, placing a card onto his dueldisk. "Then I play Mirage of Nightmare, and throw down a facedown!"

Avian appeared onto the field in a whirlwind, and knelt onto the field in a defensive stance. Behind him were an active Spell card, and a set facedown card.

"Here I go!" Rakaia shouted, drawing his card.

"And since this is your Draw Phase, I get to play Mirage." Jaden reminded him. "Now I get to draw until I have four cards in my hand!"

Jaden drew his cards, looked at them, and smiled.

"Sweet!" he exclaimed.

Rakaia smiled, knowing that Jaden now had a game plan.

"Drew something good, Jay?" he asked.

"You'll see next turn." replied Jaden. "But first, I've gotta get rid of Mirage before it hurts me on my turn, and Emergency Provisions will take care of that."

His other card flipped up, and then Mirage of Nightmare's card digitized along with Emergency Provisions. Jaden's life points then rose by 1000, making it 4700 now.

"You'll need those points, Jay." Rakaia told him. "'Cause I'm about to knock your Avian out of the park."

"My Avian's in Defense, so my points are safe." stated Jaden.

"Not for long. I activate a Trap Card called Dragon's Rage."

Rakaia's facedown card flipped up, and Prime Material Dragon's eyes began to glow with a much more intense flame.

"Now when Dragon-type monsters attack a monster in Defense, it'll be like attacking a monster in Attack Mode." explained Rakaia. "The difference comes out of your points. Now, go, Prime Material Dragon! Take out his Avian with Extinction Barrage!"

Prime Material Dragon opened it's mouth and breathed fire on the winged Hero, destroying it. Jaden grunted in pain as his life points fell to 3300.

"I end my turn." said Rakaia.

"About time, here goes something!" Jaden shouted, drawing his card. "And first, I'm gonna play another Field Spell called Fusion Gate!"

He placed a card into his dueldisk's Field Spell slot, and a large portal appeared above the Slifers' and Prof. Banner's heads.

"Now I can fuse without Polymerization, and I've got two monsters ready to fuse right here!" said Jaden. "Clayman and Sparkman!"

Elemental Heroes Clayman and Sparkman appeared onto the field, and then leapt into the air, disappearing into the portal.

"Come on out, Elemental Hero Thunder Giant!" called Jaden.

The massive yellow and violet-blue armored Hero crashed down onto the field, his fist smashing into the ground, and looked up at the Prime Material Dragon. He slowly stood back up, and stared the creature down.

"Good thing I'm not required to activate his superpower." said Jaden. "So now I can destroy your monster personally without activating any effects."

"You could, if your monster was strong enough." Rakaia told him.

"What are you talking about, Rakaia?" asked Syrus. "Thunder Giant has 2400 ATK pts.."

"He could tie with your Prime Material Dragon, no sweat!" agreed Chumley.

"Because he still hasn't played his Trap card yet." Rose explained to them.

Syrus and Chumley whipped their heads around to look at her in surprise. Sure enough, Rakaia's other set card was still on the field from his first turn.

"She's right, guys, Thunder Giant's about to lose some power." said Rakaia. "I play the Adhesion Trap Hole card!"

The card flipped up, and Thunder Giant fell in, splashing into a pit of purple muck.

"Thunder Giant!" gasped Jaden.

"He's not going to be destroyed, Jaden." Rakaia reassured him. "Well, not until my turn anyway. That stuff just cuts his ATK pts. in half."

Sure enough, as Thunder Giant climbed back out of the pit, his ATK fell down to 1200.

"He's too weak now!" moaned Chumley.

"That's the point." Rose explained to him.

_"What I don't understand is why Rakaia is taking so long to finish Jaden off."_ she thought, looking over at the dragon duelist. _"It's almost as if..."_

Then the dragon slayer duelist's eyes widened in surprise.

_"He's dueling Jaden, and helping him at the same time."_ she realized, inwardly.

Jaden looked at the two remaining cards in his hand, and took one of them, placing it into the Spell and Trap card slot of his dueldisk.

"I guess I'll throw down a facedown card and hope for the best." he said.

Rakaia frowned, and drew a card from his deck, then looked at it.

"I play Luster Dragon in Attack Mode!" he announced, placing it onto his dueldisk.

A blue dragon, similar-looking to the Ruby Dragon that was played very early on in the duel, appeared onto the field. Instead of rubies, this dragon appeared to be covered in sapphires. It had 1900 ATK.

"Now attack his Thunder Giant!" ordered Rakaia. "Sapphire Spark!"

The Luster Dragon opened it's mouth and shot a blue fireball at the Thunder Giant, destroying it instantly. Jaden winced, and shielded his face with his arms as a surge of blue flames erupted around him. His life points fell by 500, leaving him with 2800.

"Now, Prime Material Dragon, attack Jaden directly!" yelled Rakaia.

Prime Material Dragon shot a stream of flames at Jaden, causing the teenager to scream in pain as they hit him head on.

"Jaden!" Syrus and Chumley cried out.

The flames died down, and Jaden fell to one knee, panting. His life points fell to 400 now.

"One last chance, Jaden." Rakaia warned him. "Your upcoming turn will be the last one, or you will lose."

Jaden nodded, and rose back up to his feet. His hand shook as he drew his card, and looked at it. To Rakaia's surprise, sounds of what appeared to be laughing stated coming from the E-Hero duelist.

"Rakaia, this turn is my last one," said Jaden. "Because I'm ending this duel now!"

Rakaia stared at him in even greater surprise, and watched Jaden make his move.

"I play my own Monster Reborn, which lets me bring back a monster from my graveyard to the field!" Jaden said, holding up the card he drew for his opponent to see. "So, come on back, Flame Wingman!"

His graveyard began to shine brightly, and the Flame Wingman returned to the field ready for battle. Rakaia stared at the returning monster, seemingly confused.

"Jaden, didn't we go down this path before?" he asked. "Your monster was too weak the last time they fought, and even if you take out the Luster Dragon, Prime Material Dragon's effect will just reverse it so I get healed instead."

Jaden merely looked at him, as if remembering that fact.

_"Jaden, come on, learn from your mistake." _Rakaia thought, staring his opponent down. _"I don't know what that facedown card is, or that card in your hand, but I know they're a part of your big plan to defeat me. Remember, what have you learned about my dragon, and how can you vanquish it?"_

"Rakaia, I know what I did wrong when I brought out the Flame Wingman the first time in this duel." Jaden told him, smiling. "Prime Material Dragon negates my monster's effects to deal direct damage and destroy cards, but if I took it on with the Wingman with a little power boost, I can beat it."

"Well done, Jaden, but one problem." Rakaia responded, also smiling. "You don't have Skyscraper out anymore. You can't power your Wingman up."

"I know, that's what my Trap card's for."

Rakaia stared at him in shock.

"A Trap?" he repeated.

"That's right, Rakaia!" answered Jaden. "My Soul Union Trap card!"

His set card flipped up, and a ghostly image of the Thunder Giant appeared behind the Flame Wingman.

"What the-" Rakaia began.

"Here's how it works, if I have an Elemental Hero on the field, and another in my graveyard, I can target them." explained Jaden. "The one in the graveyard gives it's power to the one that's on the field, and Thunder Giant's ATK pts. is more than enough to give Flame Wingman the strength he needs to slay your dragon!"

Thunder Giant's ghost turned into a lightning bolt, which shot into the Flame Wingman's back, and then the Flame Wingman got into a powering-up stance, similar to that of a Super Saiyan powering up. His ATK shot up from 2100 to 4500. Rakaia smiled, despite that this meant that he lost.

_"Ah, well," _he thought. _"There's always next time."_

"Flame Wingman, do your thing!" shouted Jaden.

Flame Wingman leapt into the air, and dove right into Prime Material Dragon, destroying it. Rakaia dropped to his knees, as his life points fell from 3600 to 2100. With Flame Wingman's superpower, that depleted the remaining points to 0. The holograms disappeared, and the dueldisks deactivated. Jaden walked over to his roommate and friend and saluted him.

"That's game, Rakaia." he said. "You're really good."

Rakaia chuckled and got up to shake his friend's hand, while the other Slifers clapped for them.

"Well done, boys." Prof. Banner spoke, proudly. "That was an amazing duel. You two should be very proud."

"I kinda see now why he's the dragon master though." Jaden laughed, goodnaturedly.

"Actually, Jaden, I'm not quite there yet." admitted Rakaia. "You see, I'm still in training. I'm working with the true dragon master in order to be ready to wield the King of all Dragons in my deck, which won't be for some time. When I get to be that good, I want you to be my first opponent. The future King of Games vs. the vessel of the King of Dragons."

"That sounds like a duel I'd definitely like to be a part of."

* * *

I have to admit, that duel was pretty well written. There was more to the duel Rakaia had with Zane, and even more of it will be revealed in time. Hope you liked the duel, next up is the Ra Yellow Duel Tournament's finals.


	27. Holiday Spirits Part 2

Ch.27- Holiday Spirits Pt.2-

Ra Arena-

While the Slifers were holding their tournament, the Ra Yellow students were just finishing up also. The two dueling in the finals were Matt and Peter, who stood on opposite sides of the field in the arena, waiting to begin. Prof. Sartyr, the dorm headmaster, stood in between the two on the sidelines, while the other spectators sat behind him on their seats. Among the spectators were Ms. Lake and Bastion, who had also sat this tournament out.

"This could be an interesting match." Bastion commented, looking between the finalists. "Peter's deck puts him at quite a disadvantage against Matt's deck, but Peter could outmaneuver him."

"Only one way to find out." said Ms. Lake.

They watched as the duel began. Peter took the first turn, and drew a card from his deck.

"Ready or not, here I come!" he called.

Peter looked at his hand, and then at the card he drew.

_"This could be a good start."_ he thought.

"I activate the Spell card Foolish Burial," Peter announced, holding up his card. "So now I can take a monster from my deck and send it to the graveyard, but don't worry, it'll be coming back to play soon."

Matt watched as his opponent took a card from his deck, then placed it and the Spell card he played to the graveyard. Then Peter took another card from his hand.

"Next, I summon my Dragunity Legionnaire in Attack Mode." he announced.

After placing the card onto the dueldisk, a humanoid, muscular being dressed in ancient white and gold-trimmed clothing, with a bird-like helm with most of his face hidden behind a mask similar to the outfit he was wearing. He also wore a pair of golden gauntlets with silver spike accessories, a pair of green and gold shoulder guards with a pair of green wings attached to them, golden boots, and a purple sash with a golden emblem with a blue gem embedded into it as the accessory. This monster had 1200 ATK.

"Since Legionnaire's on the field, I can take a Dragunity from my graveyard and equip it to him." Peter declared, taking a card from his graveyard. "And I've got Dragunity Aklys waiting in the wings!"

Dragunity Aklys appeared onto the field in the form of a red dragon with silver armor and black wrist guards and thigh guards. The dragon had large red and black wings in place where it's ears were, and a long silver horn that extended to the backas well as the front, but was much more narrower in the back. Aklys' arms and legs withdrew into the armor, and lowered it's head so that it now took the shape of a winged javelin.

"Okay, gotta admit, that was cool." commented Matt.

"Thanks." replied Peter. "They get cooler though. Alright, I end my turn with a facedown."

He set a card down in his dueldisk's Spell and Trap card slot, allowing Matt to begin his turn. He drew his card and looked at the cards in his hand.

_"Sorry, Pete, you're a cool guy, but I'm not holding back." _he thought, smirking.

He placed the card he drew in his hand, and took out another card.

"First off, I play the Field Spell Necrovalley!" the elder boy announced.

He, Peter, and the audience watched as the scenery changed to a desert area with stone walls rising up on either side of the room.

"Thanks to Necrovalley, you can't trigger the effects of cards on the field or hand that affect the graveyard. so you can't use the effects of your Dragunity monsters anymore." explained Matt. "Not only that, but I can power up my Gravekeepers by 500 pts.."

"That's not good." grimaced Peter.

"No, it's not, and it gets worse."

Matt took two cards from his hand, and placed one on a Monster card slot, then placed the other in a Spell and Trap card slot, both appearing onto the field in set positions.

"I play a monster in Defense, then play a card facedown," he finished. "And to end it, I activate a Spell card called Gravekeeper's Servant."

"And what does that do?" asked Peter.

"You pay a price when you attack."

"So upside is that it helps me, but since Necrovalley is out, I'm screwed."

"Kinda, so go ahead, make your move."

Peter glanced at his hand, then at his deck, and drew a card.

"Oh, look at that!" he exclaimed, holding up the card he drew. "Looks like Necrovalley isn't going to be around for long after all. I got Mystical Space Typhoon."

He played the card, and a windstorm kicked up around the field, and the Field Spell tray in Matt's dueldisk opened, and the Necrovalley card inside disappeared in a golden light. The scenery caused by it vanished also, returning the arena to change back to the way it looked before, and the storm died down again.

"Well, this is bad." grimaced Matt.

"Oh, it's about to get a lot worse." responded Peter. "Because now I'm sending my Legionnaire into battle."

"Uno momento, Pete. With Gravekeeper's Servant on the field, every time you declare an attack, you've gotta pay a price. One card from the top of your deck."

"That's just fine! Legionnaire, attack his facedown monster with Tribal Aero Strike!"

As Peter sent the top card of his deck to the graveyard, Dragunity Legionnaire reared back the fist holding the Aklys javelin, and launched it at the set monster on Matt's side of the field. The set card flipped into a faceup sideways position, and revealed an Egyptian man with a black turban around his head, and a matching scarf around his neck, appeared onto the card, dressed in an open black and emerald green-trimmed robe, with a purple cloth wrapped around his waist. He had 2000 DEF pts.. The man created a transparent forcefield around himself, which deflected the attack of the Dragunity Legionnaire, and sent him sailing into the air. Legionnaire fell onto the ground on his back, and Peter lost 800 points leaving him with 3200.

"Thanks, your attack just brought my Gravekeeper's Spy out of hiding, so he can trigger his effect." announced Matt. "Now I can bring out a Gravekeeper from my Deck, so long as it's got 1500 or less ATK pts., and I've got just the one in mind!"

Another Egyptian man appeared onto the field in a flash of light wearing a dark robe as well, but instead of green threads on his man's costume, it was purple. Beneath the robe was a long black cloth wrapped around his legs in a makeshift skirt, and he wore a red top, with a golden sash tied around his waist. In his hands were a purple and golden hook shaped staff. This monster had 800 ATK.

"Peter's in for it now," commented Ms. Lake. "Every time the Gravekeeper's Curse is summoned, and I mean every time, the opponent takes 500 pts. of damage."

They watched as the new Spellcaster monster on Matt's side of the field took a step forward, and raised his staff menacingly toward Peter. The staff began to grow in length, and both it and the wielder began to glow purple. Peter began glowing in a purple aura and he felt an intense pain coursing through his body. He collapsed to one knee, gritting his teeth to try and bear the pain, while his life points fell by another 500, leaving him with 2700. Panting heavily, he stood back up on his feet, and took a card from his hand, placing it onto his dueldisk in a facedown set position.

"I'll play a monster in defense," the Dragunity duelist finished. "Then a couple of cards facedown, and that'll do it."

Peter placed two cards in the Spell and Trap card slots in his dueldisk, and the three cards appeared in their facedown positions on the field.

_"Hopefully, they'll buy me another turn."_ he thought. _"All I need is to use my facedown to boost my monster's points, and clobber Matt's monsters before he does any serious damage."_

Matt drew his card to begin his turn, and examined the card that he drew.

"Perfect." he grinned. "I sacrifice the Gravekeeper's Curse, and summon an even more powerful Gravekeeper!"

The Gravekeeper's Curse disappeared in a vortex of light, then something else appeared in his place.

"The Gravekeeper's Chief!" shouted Matt.

A hooded, bearded man appeared onto the field, and he wore an open white and black robe, with golden threads across the chest, over a purple shirt and a pair of green baggy pants with a red sash for a belt. In his hand was a golden staff. This monster had 1900 ATK.

_"Oh, come on!"_ Peter complained, inwardly. _"Not that one!"_

"And while his ATK pts. are something to fear, that's nothing compared to his special ability." Matt explained, taking a card from his graveyard. "When I summon Chief to the field, I can call back a fallen Gravekeeper. And I think you know which one I'm bringing back."

"Here we go again." groaned Peter.

Gravekeeper's Curse re-emerged onto the field, already preparing his effect. The hooked staff grew again, and Peter felt the pain burning within him once again. Once again, Peter's points fell by 500, leaving him with 2200 now.

"Next, I switch my Spy to Attack Mode, and now I'll move in for the attack." Matt declared, grinning. "Chief, you're first! Attack Legionnaire!"

Peter watched as the Gravekeeper's Chief launched an energy sphere from his hand and threw it at his Legionnaire. Legionnaire was destroyed instantly upon impact, and Peter's life points took another hit by 700. He was now left with 1500.

"Alright, Spy, you're next!" commanded Matt. "Your target: His facedown monster!"

Gravekeeper's Spy dashed forward, and leapt into the air, aiming a diving kick at the set monster. The set monster changed into a face-up position, revealing itself to be a Morphing Jar, which smiled at it's attacker before being destroyed. Luckily, it was in Defense Mode, and Gravekeeper's Spy wasn't a piercing monster, so Peter didnt' take any damage. Bastion watched as Matt's monster returned to his side, and smiled.

"A very good card for a Dragunity user to have in their arsenal." he commented. "With Morphing Jar, all cards in both players' hands go to the graveyard, and they draw five new cards."

"And since Peter's deck needs some Dragunities in the graveyard to work,..." Ms. Lake thought aloud. "But wait, Peter didn't have anymore cards in his hand."

"But now he'll get something to even the odds with Matt."

Matt and Peter had finished drawing their new hands, and examined them briefly, then Matt resumed his Battle Phase.

"Alright, now back to business!" he declared. "Go, Gravekeeper's Curse! Attack Peter directly with Doomsday Purge!"

Peter groaned softly as he prepared himself for another dose of the Curse's pain. He tensed up and waited for the attack to come, and felt it surging through him. Fighting back a yell, Peter stood his ground, taking the attack. His life points then fell to 700. Matt called his monster back, and took a card from his hand, placing it into his Spell and Trap card slot. A set card appeared behind the Gravekeeper's Curse.

"I think you've had enough for now." said Matt. "So, I'll end my turn here."

"My turn then!" shouted Peter.

As he drew his card, Matt looked down at the Trap Card he just placed.

_"Alright, he has that Foolish Burial, Dragunities Aklys and Legionnaire, and the card he discarded from the top of his deck thanks to my Gravekeeper's Servant,"_ he mentally noted, glancing back at Peter. _"Three more cards, and I can use my Cemetary Bomb, and finish him off."_

Peter examined his hand, then took two cards out from it.

"Here I go!" he yelled. "I play my Lightning Vortex Spell card, and with it, I can destroy all the face-up monsters you have out! All it costs is just a single card from my hand!"

Matt gulped, and watched as a thunder storm wiped out his Gravekeepers in fell swoop. He was now mostly defenseless.

"That's six now." he muttered.

"And now I'll summon Pilum in Attack Mode!" announced Peter.

He placed a card down onto his dueldisk, and a small, bipedal, lime-green dragon clad emerged onto the field. It's black and silver armor barely covered the creature's muscular body, but it almost covered up it's face completely. On top of this monster's head was a long metal pole with a silver diamond-shaped head on top. This monster had 1400 ATK.

"Now this guy's got a pretty cool special ability of his own, Matt! Now, when he's summoned to the field, I can play a Winged-Beast Dragunity monster from my hand and equip it with Pilum!" explained Peter. "And I've got one right here! The Dragunity Angusticlavii!"

A moment later, a winged man who looked like some sort of tribal warrior from first glance, appeared onto the field beside his Dragunity brethren. He wore a helmet that resembled a head of a blue and orange bird, a blue and gold-trimmed armored top with a feathery accessory attached to the neck with a pair of blue and red wings attached to his back, and a pair of black pants with a golden belt and blue and gold sash wrapped around the waist. Lastly he wore a matching pair of gauntlets and boots, with a bow in one glove-clad hand, and an arrow in the other. He had 2100 ATK.

"Gotta admit, he looks tough." Matt commented, with a friendly smile.

"He is, especially when I get him all ready for battle." Peter told him. "Pilum, transform yourself, and get ready for battle!"

The small, armored dragon withdrew it's arms and legs into the armor, while it's tail suddenly became straight and rigid, making itself into a spear-like weapon. The Angusticlavii's bow and arrow disappeared, and he grabbed onto his new weapon.

"But I'm not done yet!" Peter continued, holding up another card. "I've got the Dragunity Divine Lance sitting in my hand, and I'm gonna use it on my Angusticlavii! While he's equipped with this, Angusticlavii gets an ATK bonus: 100 pts. times his own level, and I can equip more Dragunities to him during my Main Phase!"

Matt gulped as he watched Dragunity Angusticlavii's Pilum spear change into a golden spear, then his ATK pts. rise from 2100 to 2600.

"Whoa." the Gravekeeper duelist grimaced.

"And for the piece de resistance, I'm going to activate my new Divine Lance's effect and equip the Dragunity Brandistock to the Angusticlavii!" Peter announced, as he took a card from his deck. "Come on out, Brandistock!"

After placing the card down onto his dueldisk, the Dragunity Brandistock, a snall gray dragon in silver-blue armor emerged onto the field. He wore a helmet on his head with a long silver blade on top of it, and had two similar blades attached to either side of him. It had 600 ATK. Like the other two dragon Dragunities before him, it withdrew it's arms and legs into the armor, with it's tail sticking out straight, creating a polearm-like weapon. This time, a weapon with three spikes sticking out of the top was created. The Dragunity Angusticlavii took this weapon in his other hand, and stood ready to battle. On the sidelines, Bastion smiled at Peter, impressed.

"It's over." he declared. "He's won."

"Really?" asked Ms. Lake. "That Angusticlavii's only got 2600 points, Matt's still got 2700 life points in his name."

"But the Dragunities equipped to the Angusticlavii have a special power."

Ms. Lake looked at him in confusion for a moment, then looked back at the duel.

"Alright, Dragunity Angusticlavii, let's finish this!" declared Peter. "Double Tribal Thrust!"

The tribal Dragunity warrior tossed his Brandistock weapon into the air, and dashed forward at a high speed. Matt didn't have time to react as he felt the tip of the lance jabbing him in the chest. He let out a gasp of pain and sunk to his knees, while the Angusticlavii leapt back to catch the Brandistock spear. Matt shakily rose back up to his feet, while his life points fell to 100 pts., and laughed weakly.

"That was a close call." he sighed.

Then he saw the Angusticlavii catch the Brandistock weapon, and rear back the hand holding it.

"Oh, crap." Matt gulped, nervously.

The Dragunity warrior threw the polearm like a javelin and it sailed through Matt's chest, striking the ground behind him. Matt fell to his knees again, grasping his chest, while his life points fell to 0. The holograms vanished, and the dueldisks deactivated, while the other Ra Yellows, Ms. Lake and Prof. Sartyr cheered for the two duelists. Peter calmly walked over to Matt, and helped him to his feet, then they shook hands.

"The Dragunity Brandistock gives the monster equipped with it the power to attack twice each Battle Phase." Bastion explained to Ms. Lake. "That's how Peter won."

"Pretty nice." Ms. Lake commented. "But don't you have a party to prepare for?"

"We finished setting up early, and Chancellor Sheppard let us attend the dorm tournaments to watch the finals."

* * *

I know, I know, Dragunities are a 5Ds era deck. But a1993 and I came to an agreement. No Synchros, which worked out fine. Next up, the Obelisk Tournaments. So, should we make it boy vs. girl, or have two tournament final duels? After the Obelisk duel(s), onto the final chapter before the Jaden vs. Jinzo duel.

Hailey Ryan is owned by Peach Wookiee, Luna Tenshi, and Crayus and Rakaia Meiyo are obviously owned by Rakaia The Dragon Duelist, Sega Rivera is owned by Sega herself, Will Rosen is owned by 15animefreak15, Laura is owned by Hyruleepona, Taryn and Jessi Yuki are owned by Dyusu, Rose Renea is owned by maymay85985, and Peter Salvatore is owned by a1993. As for my OCs, Ken, Matt, Kenneth, Chris, Bella, and Ramon, they're owned by me and my Duel Club familia, along with Tony Casimir, Ms. Erin Lake, and Underground Duelists Zero and Fang. Don't own the original series part of the plot, but I did tweak with it a bit. The main plot is owned by Kazuki Takahashi and everyone else who helped bring Yu-Gi-Oh! GX into this world. Robot Alchemic Drive is developed by Sandlot, and published by Enix, so I guess they own the game. The Meganite and Volgara cards are being posted up on Deviant Art. Final Fantasy is created by Hironobu Sakaguchi, and since I'm using Auron's appearance from the Kingdom Hearts II game, I'm adding a disclaimer for them, too. Kingdom Hearts series were created by Tetsuya Nomura and Shinji Hashimoto, both games series were developed by Square Enix, formerly known as Square before merging with Enix. Do not own Square Enix, or anything made, published, or developed by Square Enix.


	28. Fantasy vs Sci-Fi

Ch.28- Fantasy vs. Sci-Fi-

Several Hours Later- Obelisk Arena-

The finals of the Obelisk Blue Duel Tournament in the Obelisk Arena was about to begin, and most of the Obelisk Blue students were either in the bleachers, or upstairs by the railing to get a better view. Chris and Ken were standing by the railing where there were less people by them, and some of the Duel Spirits were with them, such as Beast of Talwar, Auron, Cloud, Tidus, and Tifa. Down on the stage were Hailey and Zane, both were ready to duel, and the audience was looking forward to the duel.

"Who do you think is gonna win?" asked Chris.

"I've never seen Zane duel, so I can't say." replied Ken. "For now, I guess I'll root for Hailey. That Fairy Archer of hers kicks butt, Athena, too."

"Yeah!" Tidus agreed, launching his fist into the air. "Come on, guys! Hailey needs our support!"

He, Tifa, Chris, and the Beast of Talwar started cheering, while Ken raised her eyebrows at them, and Auron and Cloud looked at each other, chuckling to themselves.

"Tidus, you can cheer for us all." Auron told his friend. "You have the energy for it."

Tidus stopped cheering to glare at him, while the other Spirits and their partners laughed. Meanwhile, Alexis, Ramon, Kenneth, and the other girls sat in the bleachers behind where Hailey was standing, waiting for the duel to begin.

"Go, Hailey!" cheered Will.

"Show no mercy!" Taryn added, throwing her fists into the air.

"C'mon, Zane!" one of the male Obelisks shouted.

"Don't let that girl beat you!" another male Obelisk called out.

Zane looked over at Hailey, who was staring him down.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

"I wouldn't be standing here if I wasn't." replied Hailey. "Let's duel!"

They activated their dueldisks, and the duel began, and Hailey drew her card to start it off.

"For my first move, I'll activate my Valhalla of the Fallen Spell Card!" she announced, placing one card into her dueldisk. "If I don't have any monsters out on the field, I can bring out a LIGHT attribute Fairy-type monster from my hand, regardless of the level or ATK strength. And I've got one of my favorites right here!"

The fairy duelist placed another card on her dueldisk, and the Fairy Archer emerged onto the field in Attack Mode. Zane looked at the little monster, and smirked.

"The Fairy Archer." he spoke, calmly. "If I'm correct, that's the same monster that can dish out 400 pts. of damage for every LIGHT monster you have out on the field."

"That's right, and I'll use her effect right now!" Hailey stated, gesturing to her monster. "Go, Cupid Fire!"

Fairy Archer loaded up her bow with one arrow, and fired it at Zane, who took the hit without so much as a flinch. His life points dropped down to 3600 from the attack.

"Alright, first blood!" Chris chuckled, pumping his fist in mid-air.

"Save your cheers for when she wins, Chris." Auron told him.

"That's right." Ken agreed, grinning. "This duel's still just getting warmed up."

Down below, Hailey was just taking another card from her hand and placing it on the slot beside her Fairy Archer, causing a card to appear facedown in a sideways position.

"I'll set a monster facedown, and I'll set a couple of cards facedown while I'm at it." the Obelisk female finished, as she placed two more cards in the Spell and Trap Card Zone slots.

"I suppose it's my turn then." said Zane.

He drew his card, and looked at it, then put it in his hand, while grabbing another one at the same time.

"Since you have a monster out, I can bring out my Cyber Dragon without making any sacrifices." he announced, placing it on his dueldisk. "And with that being a Special Summon, I can summon my Proto-Cyber Dragon straight to the field."

The Cyber Dragon that had emerged on the field a moment ago was now joined by a darker-colored Cyber Dragon that looked less sophisticated and high-tech than it's successor. It had 1100 ATK.

"Now attack that Fairy Archer!" commanded Zane. "Strident Blast!"

Cyber Dragon opened it's mouth and fired a blast at Fairy Archer that struck her head on, and the remnants of the blast hit Hailey, who raised her arms to cover her head. She lost 700 points.

"Now Proto-Cyber Dragon, attack her facedown monster!" the Cyber duelist ordered, as his second monster moved in to attack. "Strident Spark!"

Proto-Cyber Dragon fired a weaker blast from it's mouth that flew over to where Hailey's monster was, but Hailey merely smiled in response. The blast hit the set monster, which revealed itself to be a familiar pink and green pair of monsters with rings around their waists. The moment the blast made contact with them, it disintegrated instantly.

"It wasn't destroyed!" Topher gasped, shocked.

"That's because it's Gellenduo's special ability." Hailey explained, nodding at her monster. "These cute little fairies can't be destroyed in battle, but when I take any form of damage, that's when they get destroyed."

"So you set it into facedown Defense Mode, rather than keep it face up on your first turn and use Fairy Archer's effect to cause me more damage." guessed Zane.

"That's right. It's all part of my strategy. As is this! Go, Trap Card!"

One of the set cards on the fairy duelist's side of the field flipped up, and a sword materialized in the air in front of it, and then aimed itself at Zane. It flew at him at high speed, and embedded itself into a card in the male Obelisk's hand.

"The Lightforce Sword randomly launches itself at your hand, and takes the card it pierces and removes it from the game for a few turns." Hailey explained to her opponent. "So, that's gonna hurt your game a little bit, and help mine more."

_"We'll see about that."_ Zane thought, as his card disappeared.

"It's your move, Hailey." he called out to the auburn-haired female.

"Alright, here I go!" Hailey responded, drawing a card from her deck.

She looked at it, and smiled.

"I activate the Spell 'Cards from the Sky'!" the fairy duelist declared, holding it up. "By banishing a LIGHT Fairy-type monster from my hand, I can draw two cards from my deck! Unfortunately, I can't Special Summon or conduct my Battle Phase this turn."

After selecting a card from her hand and pocketing it, she drew two more cards from her deck, and looked at them for a moment, then placed one of them in her hand.

"Now I activate Gellenduo's third power, I can treat it as two sacrifices if I use it to summon a LIGHT Fairy-type monster." Hailey announced, as her Gellenduo started to glow with a bright light. "And I've got one right here! Go, Athena!"

The light shone brighter and brighter, then it began to shapeshift into the silhouette of the new monster. Then the light faded and Athena emerged onto the field completely, with her spear at the ready.

"Now she's got a stronger monster than Zane's Cyber Dragon." gasped Mindy.

"Downside, Hailey can't attack this turn." Sega reminded her.

"She'll get a chance to." said Will. "You'll see."

Back on the stage, Zane had just drawn his card to start his turn, and then put it in his hand.

"Before I play anything from my hand, Hailey, I'm going to activate the effect of the card you had removed from play with Lightforce Sword's effect." he announced.

"You're what?!" gasped Hailey.

"But how?!" asked Tidus. "Can he do that?!"

"Whatever it is, let's hope it won't hurt Hailey much." said Beast of Talwar.

A card materialized into Zane's hand, and it was revealed to be a Spell Card.

"I play 'Card From a Different Dimension', and I can only use it's effect on the Standby Phase of my turn after it was banished from the game." explained the cyber duelist. "Now I can put it back in my hand, and if it's re-added to my hand by this effect, we both can draw twice more. So, Hailey, good luck with your draw."

First Hailey drew two cards, then Zane did, and they both added the cards to their hands. Zane then took a card from his hand and held it up.

"Now I activate Photon Generator Unit, and with it, I can send the two Cyber Dragons on my field to the graveyard and bring out a much more powerful creature from my hand, deck, or graveyard." he told his opponent.

"Wait, but he has a Cyber Dragon, and a Proto-Cyber Dragon, they're two different monsters, aren't they?" asked Chris

"Quite the contrary, Chris," explained Ken. "Proto-Cyber Dragon's out on the field right now, and so it's effect makes it another Cyber Dragon."

"How do you know that?"

"To make a long story short, thanks to my new Spirits, I have to score a very high grade on my midterms."

Down below, Zane's monster had just completed it's transformation into a modified version of the Cyber Dragon, which now had a body with more spikes going down all the way to it's tail, which had a more-pointed tail. There were also teal-colored lightning bolt-like designs going down from it's head to the bottom of it's neck where the lines met in a "v" shape. This monster had 2400 ATK. Hailey looked at the new monster and gulped.

"What's wrong with Hailey?" asked Jasmine. "Athena can beat the tail off that monster with her bare hands."

"In a battle of ATK pts. maybe, but Cyber Laser Dragon's special effect lets Zane destroy a monster in Attack Mode once per turn." explained Alexis.

"Seriously?" Will asked, looking at her.

"Sorry, Will."

"Nothing to worry about, I've got a back-up plan waiting in the wings." Hailey said, smiling. "I play 'Miraculous Descent'!"

Her other set card flipped up, and began to glow with a bright light.

"Now, here's how it works, I take a Fairy monster that's been banished, and I bring it back to the field in Attack Mode," she described, smirking. "But the fun doesn't stop there. Since Athena will still be here, you take 800 pts. of damage the moment my new friend shows up."

The ceiling above them began to glow now, and a six-winged woman started descending down to the field. She had long purple hair with a charm around her head attached to a string, an amulet with a green gem around her neck, and she was dressed in yellow gown with two long pieces of the dress circling around her shoulders and around her arms, with a chain belt and blue gem accessory around her waist. Other than the ankle bracelets around her left ankle, that was all she wore. She had 2750 ATK pts..

"A Wingweaver." gasped Jasmine.

"She's beautiful." sighed Mindy.

Zane watched as the angel descended beside her teammate, and braced himself as Athena prepared to charge at him.

"Cyber Laser Dragon, use your Blue Lightning Lash to destroy Athena!" he shouted.

The end of the Cyber Laser Dragon's tail opened up and a blue light began to glow in the center of it as it aimed itself at Athena. Athena, meanwhile, rushed at Zane, with her spear raised. The second she attacked Zane, Cyber Laser Dragon bisected her with it's laser and destroyed her. Zane's life points, however, dropped by 800 pts., leaving him with 2800.

"Since I can't do anything here, I'll set a couple of cards facedown myself." Zane said, as he placed two cards into his Spell and Trap Card Zone slots. "Then I'll let you go."

"Go, Hailey!" shouted Tifa. "Kick his butt!"

"Hailey! Hailey! Hailey!" Tidus chanted, waving his fist in the air.

"Tidus, no one can hear you except Duel Spirits and the kids who can see Duel Spirits." Auron reminded him.

Just then, Ken started following Tidus' lead, and in turn, several more of the Obelisk Blues began cheering for Hailey. Hailey's hand reached for her deck, and drew a card from it, as the crowd erupted into cheers.

"Here goes!" she declared. "First up, Shining Angel! Attack Mode!"

The robed angel emerged onto the field in an battle stance, and then Hailey shot her hand out before her.

"Go, Wingweaver! Attack Cyber Laser Dragon with Heavenly Storm!" she commanded.

Wingweaver began to flap her wings and a massive windstorm started to pick up, but it didn't last long.

"I reveal my Trap, Call of the Haunted, and bring back my Cyber Dragon!" Zane responded, as his facedown card flipped up.

Cyber Dragon re-emerged onto the field, and roared at it's foes.

"But that's not it, I use my other Trap, Attack Reflector Unit, to change it into a Cyber Barrier Dragon, and I'll put it into Defense Mode!" Zane continued, as his other set card flipped up. "Now rise, Cyber Barrier Dragon!"

The Cyber Dragon on the field morphed into a different model of itself, one with a octagon-shaped neckpiece with a wing-shaped accessory in each corner and pink-colored designs on it's neck pieces and head, and multiple spikes going down different parts of it's back. This monster also had a spike protruding from its nose. It had 800 ATK.

"Ah, perfect." groaned Hailey.

"I guess you know what comes next then, and for those who don't, I'll explain it." Zane went on. "I use my Barrier Dragon's effect to negate Wingweaver's attack. Go, Reflector Shield!"

The Cyber Barrier Dragon shrunk it's head back into the neckpiece, and a green light started to shine around the head and expanded to the Cyber Laser Dragon. The windstorm died down soon after making contact with the light barrier.

"That's all well and good, but keep in mind, you can only use that effect once per turn." Hailey reminded her opponent. "And your Cyber Barrier Dragon just sung it's swan song."

Shining Angel then leapt into the air and shot a hand out at the Cyber Barrier Dragon, then fired a ball of golden light at it, destroying it. Zane cracked a smile as his life points dropped by 600, leaving him with 2200.

"Not bad." he commented. "You saw it coming, didn't you? Me bringing out my Cyber Barrier Dragon."

"I didn't get into Obelisk Blue for nothing, you know." his opponent replied. "I'm well familiar with the Cyber Dragon archetype. So I knew you had to have the Barrier Dragon in your deck if you had the Laser Dragon."

Hailey took a card from her hand, and placed it into her dueldisk, as a set card appeared on the field behind her monsters.

"I'll play a card face down, and that'll be that." she finished.

"I have to admit, you're not bad." Zane said, as he drew his card. "But I'm afraid this duel is over, and I'll start with the destruction of your Wingweaver."

"If you're talking about using the Cyber Laser Dragon's effect, then I've got some bad news for you. I'm gonna cancel all of our monster's powers out!"

Zane stared at her, confused, while Hailey's set card flipped up.

"A 'Light-Imprisoning Mirror' Trap?" he spoke, surprised. "Of course you know this is a double-edged sword, right?"

"Depends on how you use it, and if you're willing to take the risk to use it." said Hailey. "I fully understand that this could hurt me, but it also hurts you as well. Now your Cyber Laser Dragon's effect to destroy my monsters is negated."

The audience stared down at her, also surprised.

"That was bold." said Bella.

"And crazy." agreed Mindy.

"It's alright." Alexis told them. "Wingweaver's a Normal Monster, and it's weaker than Zane's monster by just 50 points. Zane has to choose which monster to destroy now, unless he's got something else up his sleeve. And from how this duel's going, he's going to hit back harder again."

"And there's only one monster he can hit back harder with, if he pulls the right combo." said Ramon.

"Cross your fingers that he doesn't play it." muttered Luna.

"I play Power Bond!" Zane announced, holding up a card. "And fuse my Cyber Dragons to create the Cyber End Dragon!"

Hailey stared at him, confused now. He had just two other cards in his hand beside his Power Bond card, and the only card on his field was Cyber Laser Dragon. Two of his Cyber Dragons were already in the graveyard, so he'd have nothing to fuse to make the Cyber End Dragon because he was two Fusion-Materials short.

"He's planning something." Auron spoke, staring at Zane.

"I know." said Ken.

Down below them, Hailey stared at Zane, interested in how he was going to bring out his monster.

"So?" she asked. "Where's the monsters you're going to use to bring the Cyber End Dragon out?"

"I've got them right here!" Zane replied, as he showed his hand. "One Cyber Dragon, and a Cybernetic Fusion Support!"

"What's 'Cybernetic Fusion Support'?" asked Jasmine.

"It's like a Fusion substitution card." replied Alexis. "See, all he has to do is pay half of his life points, and he can use the card's effect to fuse the Cyber Dragons in his graveyard with the Cyber Dragon in his hand."

"Which spells 'game over' for Hailey." Will realized, shocked. "She's got nothing else to stop him. When Cyber End Dragon comes out, it'll be too strong for either of her monsters."

The audience and the two duelists watched as the three Cyber Dragons vanished into a portal in the air, and then the three-headed Cyber End Dragon gracefully descended down to the playing field.

"And since I used Power Bond to fuse my monsters, Cyber End Dragon's ATK pts. are doubled!" said Zane. "That equals a grand total of 8000!"

Sure enough, Cyber End Dragon's ATK rose from 4000 to 8000 instantly.

"Now, put them all to use Cyber End Dragon!" declared Zane. "Wipe out Wingweaver with Super Strident Blaze!"

The three-headed machine monster opened all three of it's mouths, and fired three energy blasts at Wingweaver. Hailey raised her arms to shield herself as the blasts swallowed up her monster, and wiped out her remaining 3300 life points within seconds. The blasts died down, and Hailey dropped to her knees in defeat, while the holograms faded. Up above the duelists, their peers stared down at them in awe.

_"Wow, not even Hailey stood a chance against Zane."_ Alexis thought, stunned. _"He's beaten Rakaia, Jaden, and now her."_

Chris looked beside him, and saw that Ken and her Duel Spirits were looking down at Zane with excitement.

"Guys?" he called.

"What's up?" asked Beast of Talwar.

"This guy is good." said Ken. "I'd like to test my decks against him sometime."

"Jaden and Zane do seem like strong enough opponents to fight against." agreed Auron.

Back on the stage, Zane walked over to Hailey and extended a hand toward her. Hailey looked up at him, and took his hand as he helped her to her feet, and they shook hands.

"I'm impressed." said Zane. "For a gentle person, you duel with a lot of fire."

"Thank you, Zane." Hailey responded, smiling. "I heard you were good, I'm glad I got to experience why myself."

The two released each other's hands, and separated, as the other students cheered for them. Up by the railing, Tidus looked over at Ken.

"We've gotta tell Jaden about this at the party." he said.

Suddenly a look of shock came across the gamer duelist's face, as she remembered.

"Holy crap baskets, I forgot!" she yelped.

Chris and Beast of Talwar watched as their friend took off like the wind through the doors, and sweatdropped.

"What's her hurry?" asked Beast of Talwar.

* * *

The last of the tournament duels is now complete. And all that's left is the party in the next chapter, then we proceed with the duel against Jinzo. I'll try to update soon.

Hailey Ryan is owned by Peach Wookiee, Luna Tenshi, and Crayus and Rakaia Meiyo are obviously owned by Rakaia The Dragon Duelist, Sega Rivera is owned by Sega herself, Will Rosen is owned by 15animefreak15, Laura is owned by Hyruleepona, Taryn and Jessi Yuki are owned by Dyusu, Rose Renea is owned by maymay85985, and Peter Salvatore is owned by a1993. As for my OCs, Ken, Matt, Kenneth, Chris, Bella, and Ramon, they're owned by me and my Duel Club familia, along with Tony Casimir, Ms. Erin Lake, and Underground Duelists Zero and Fang. Don't own the original series part of the plot, but I did tweak with it a bit. The main plot is owned by Kazuki Takahashi and everyone else who helped bring Yu-Gi-Oh! GX into this world. Robot Alchemic Drive is developed by Sandlot, and published by Enix, so I guess they own the game. The Meganite and Volgara cards are being posted up on Deviant Art. Final Fantasy is created by Hironobu Sakaguchi, and since I'm using Auron's appearance from the Kingdom Hearts II game, I'm adding a disclaimer for them, too. Kingdom Hearts series were created by Tetsuya Nomura and Shinji Hashimoto, both games series were developed by Square Enix, formerly known as Square before merging with Enix. Do not own Square Enix, or anything made, published, or developed by Square Enix.


	29. Departure for the Break

Ch.29- Departure for the Break-

Duel Academy School- Gymnasium-

The gym was remodeled a little, so the students could dance and do whatever, without worry of breaking anything. A DJ station was set up on the left side of the room, while tables were set up here and there. With the gym being so spacious, it was easier for everyone to dance and have elbow room at the same time, but nobody was dancing. Ken, who was DJing at the station at the moment, stepped over to the microphone.

"Seriously, people, I've seen chess tournaments, mathlete competitions, and even our Intro to Duel History class more livelier than this. Up on the dance floor, let's go!" she barked, in a tone that indicated annoyance. "Hey! Don't make me come over there!" the gamer duelist added, pointing at one student.

The students just ignored her, and continued to just walk around, eating, drinking, and talking. Ken just sighed, and turned away, rubbing the back of her head.

"Oy, tough crowd." she muttered.

"Why are we here?" Auron's voice asked.

Ken looked up to see her Duel Spirit partner, Auron, standing by a wall behind the DJ station, his arms crossed over his chest.

"What, they don't have school dances where you're from?" asked Ken.

"Why are we here?" Auron asked again.

"I'm playing DJ for about an hour, then Bastion's supposed to take over."

"Where is Bastion anyway?"

"Look around, Auron, it's like a sea of adolescence. A lifeless, boring sea of adolescence, which makes me wish I had an expresso right now, 'cause I'm starting to get bored."

Auron stared at her for a moment, then shook his head, and faced forward again.

"Well, if you want people dancing, try playing a song with an infectious rhythm." he instructed his partner. "Think of a song that would even get you dancing."

"Dude, I'm about as much of a dancer as you're much of a happy person. Seriously, Zane smiles more than you do."

As the two bantered, Dr. Crowler walked over to the station, and started scribbling down something on one of the request sheets. Auron caught sight of this, and nudged his friend to get her attention, and they looked at Dr. Crowler as he walked away. Ken picked up the clipboard with the request sheets, and scanned the list.

"Doc, what you lack in fashion taste, you make up for in music taste." she mused, nodding.

The gamer duelist returned to the station, and scanned the music playlist, then the speakers started playing the intro to "Rock and Roll All Night" by KISS.

"What is this?" asked Auron.

"KISS." replied Ken.

"...Excuse me?"

"That's the band's name."

Ken typed away on her laptop and pulled up a picture of the band, and Auron stared at the four men in the picture before slowly returning his gaze to his partner.

"I have no idea what question I want to ask first, but they all start with 'why'." he spoke, deadpanned.

"Auron, stop wondering, and start listening." snapped Ken. "This is one of the greatest bands in history here! Lots of people dig their music! This break, I will introduce you guys to the best that this world has to offer, if it kills me."

Auron remained quiet for a moment, his deadpan glare never wavering.

"...I'm going to kill my employer." he finally stated.

Meanwhile, Jaden, Syrus, Chumley, Rakaia, and Rose finally entered the gymnasium, and flashed their tickets to security, then walked inside.

"Whoa, look at all the people here!" exclaimed Syrus.

"But where's our friends at?" asked Jaden.

His question was answered when they heard a voice calling out to them.

"Jaden! Guys! Over here!" shouted Alexis.

The five Slifers turned to see her, Mindy, and Jasmine looking their way, and waving for them to join them.

"Where's Bastion?" asked Jaden. "I thought he was DJing, too."

"Ken volunteered to work a shift for him so he could dance with someone." replied Mindy.

"Will's been waiting for a slow dance song to come on so she could dance with him."

"Seriously? It's our freshman year here, why is everyone so interested in getting together with someone so soon?"

Syrus, Rakaia, Rose, Chumley, Mindy, Alexis, and Jasmine slowly turned to face him, all raising an eyebrow. Jaden looked between them, confused.

"What?" the Slifer student asked.

Chumley simply smacked him upside the head, while Rose, Rakaia, and Jasmine facepalmed, and Syrus and Mindy shook their heads slowly.

"What?!" Jaden asked again.

"Jaden, we're going to have a long talk about this over break." Rose promised him.

Jaden crossed his arms over his chest and pouted, then he scanned around the gymnasium. He wondered why nobody was dancing.

"...And that, ladies and gentlemen, was 'Rock and Roll All Night' by KISS." Ken's voice rang out over the loudspeakers. "Only music being played tonight is up to early 2000s. So, think before you throw in your requests."

A smile then crept onto the face of the E-Hero duelist, as he slowly made his way to the DJ station. Upon arrival, he watched Ken and Auron as they started to argue again.

"Then why do they call it 'Rage Against the Machine'?" asked Auron. "What other reason could there be if it's not because they're mad at their machina?"

"Alright, smart guy, how about we settle this here and now?" retorted Ken.

The gamer duelist opened the Google Chrome browser on her laptop, and started typing away at the keyboard, until she had found what she was looking for.

"Here we go, this is how the band got it's name." she read, scanning the page. "'Rage Against the Machine got their name because of problems with their unreliable vehicle'..."

Jaden fought the urge to laugh as Ken stopped reading, looking quite embarrassed.

"And I'm not even from this world." Auron said, coolly.

"Well, this is embarrassing." Ken grumbled, annoyed. "I got owned by the samurai version of Rupert Giles."

"Who?"

Ken slowly looked up from the laptop, with a look on her face similar to the kind of look you'd see on Dorothy Zbornak's face sometimes. Then she and Auron noticed Jaden standing nearby, grinning.

"You're adjusting pretty well with your new friends." observed Jaden.

"Slowly." Ken told him. "Very slowly."

"Mind if I put in a request?"

"By all means."

Jaden handed his friend a piece of paper, and watched as Ken read what was written on it, then nodded.

"This we can do." Ken responded, saluting him.

She started scrolling through the list of songs on the playlist until she finally found the requested track, and clicked on it. Meanwhile, Jaden stepped out onto the dance floor, just as the intro to Aerosmith and Run DMC's Walk This Way started to play. As the song's intro continued, Jaden pulled Syrus, Chumley, and Bastion out onto the dance floor so they could dance. Rakaia looked over at Sega, and the two smirked before walking out onto the dance floor as well, with Ramon and Will, as the second part of the chorus started to play. Most of the other students clapped and cheered, then started joining either Jaden's side or Rakaia's in the dance-off. Alexis, Mindy, and Jasmine watched as their classmates danced from outside of the dance floor.

"Leave it to Jaden to get the party started." said Jasmine.

Unbeknownst to most of the students, several of the Duel Spirits stepped out onto the dance floor, and started to dance. Ken and Chris' Duel Spirits danced on Jaden's side, while Rakaia's and Hailey's danced with them. When Aerosmith was playing, Jaden's side danced, and the others followed when it was Run D.M.C.'s turn. It was an interesting performance. The audience clapped and cheered as the dancers performed for them with excellence. When the song ended, most of the students and teachers clapped for them, but then, Dr. Crowler stepped over to the DJ station, and handed her a piece of paper.

"Hit it." he ordered.

Ken scanned the piece of paper, watching as her professor walked away, and nodded.

"Okey-doke, doc." she agreed.

Beside her, Auron watched as she tapped away at the buttons on her keyboard.

"This is actually starting to get interesting." he said.

"Is that sarcasm, or are you being serious?" asked Ken.

She then noticed that Auron was glancing at her with a deadpan expression. Getting the message, Ken nodded, and clicked on something on her computer. Dr. Crowler, now dressed in a white suit, started walking towards the center of the dance floor with several other staff members. He snapped his fingers, and a white fedora flew towards him. The speakers now began to play the intro to Michael Jackson's Smooth Criminal, just as the Obelisk headmaster put on the fedora and struck the opening pose. Several of the students' jaws dropped as they watched the staff joined him in dancing to the song. Jasmine, who had joined with Jaden and his friends with Mindy and Alexis, slowly reached over to Syrus, and plucked off his glasses and put them on to make sure she had not gone insane.

"Is this for real?" asked Chumley.

"Yes, Chumley. Yes it is." answered Bastion.

"Go, Dr. C.!" cheered Jaden.

The others looked at him, bewildered.

"What?" Jaden asked, innocently. "He's good."

As the teachers and staff danced, Dr. Crowler was perfectly lip-syncing to the song. Among the dancers were Prof. Banner, Prof. Simon, Ms. Fontaine, and even Ms. Lake.

"Isn't that our Intro to Duel History professor?" asked Alexis.

She was pointing at one man, who was dressed in a black suit. He had long dark wavy hair, and wore a pair of round glasses in front of his dark blue eyes. This man was dancing beside Prof. Banner.

"I didn't think Prof. Stein was the dancing type." commented Syrus.

"Guess there's more to a person than meets the eye after all." said Rose.

A few feet away, Sega, Will, and Bella watched as their teachers danced to the chorus now, joining their fellow students in clapping along to the beat.

"People will be talking about this for a long time." said Will.

"Quick, someone get a camera out." Bella called, as she clapped. "This is yearbook worthy."

Sega was quick to do so, and started snapping photos, a grin on her face bigger than the Cheshire Cat. Meanwhile, Peter was recording the event on his phone.

"This is going on YouTube first chance I get. End of story." he declared.

The song soon came to the instrumental solo, and to everyone's surprise, Dr. Crowler was able to do the gravity-defying lean to the side, as did Prof. Banner, Prof. Stein, and Ms. Lake, which wowed the students. Upon standing up straight, they continued to dance, until the end of the song. The students broke into a round of applause for their teachers, and Jaden looked at Syrus.

"This is the weirdest school dance I've ever been to." he said.

"It's one for the history books." agreed Syrus.

* * *

Jaden, Syrus, Chumley, Rakaia, Rose, Luna, Sega, and Chris stood in front of their friends, who stood in front of the ship, ready to depart for Winter Break.

"Sorry we won't be sticking around for break." said Peter.

"But at least you guys won't be bored." pointed out Ken. "The island's cursed, I swear."

"Yeah, thanks, Ken." Alexis grumbled, glaring at her.

"Not what I meant, Alexis, and you know it! I was talking about Jaden's recent amount of close shaves with expulsion!"

"She's got a point." agreed Syrus. "Unfortunately."

"We'll see you guys after break." said Jaden. "And thanks for the rad presents."

"Anytime." replied Hailey.

The Slifers, Chris, Sega, and Luna watched as their friends got in line to board the ship, preparing to take them home for the holidays, then proceeded to walk away. While standing in line, Hailey caught a glimpse of a someone dressed in a black coat with a wide-brimmed had on his head, and nudged Ken, who was standing beside her.

"What's up?" asked Ken.

She followed her friend's gaze to the stranger in the dark clothing, and frowned.

"What's with the Slim Shady wannabe?" the gamer duelist wondered aloud.

"I don't know, but I don't like it." answered Hailey.

* * *

Okay, I'm not going to detail the whole dances for you guys, if you want to see how it's done, go to YouTube. I'm sorry about the late chapter, there's no excuse. I'll try to update faster in the future, and try not to make the non-canon chapters look so crappy. Or at least, when I do a school dance chapter again, I'll ask for assistance.

And to the reviewer who asked for some JadenXAlexis moments in this chapter, I'm going to wait before I start making up some in the future chapters. Be patient. As for the Duel Spirits, I imagined Athena sounding like Ophanimon from Digimon Frontiers, and Red Eyes Black Dragon talking with a voice like Starscream from Transformers Armada, imagining it like an anime helps me work better...sort of. You didn't offend me, I'll let you know when I take offense, don't worry. I'm not pissed or anything, I'm just explaining myself.

Hailey Ryan is owned by Peach Wookiee, Luna Tenshi, and Crayus and Rakaia Meiyo are obviously owned by Rakaia The Dragon Duelist, Sega Rivera is owned by Sega herself, Will Rosen is owned by 15animefreak15, Laura is owned by Hyruleepona, Taryn and Jessi Yuki are owned by Dyusu, Rose Renea is owned by maymay85985, and Peter Salvatore is owned by a1993. As for my OCs, Ken, Matt, Kenneth, Chris, Bella, and Ramon, they're owned by me and my Duel Club familia, along with Tony Casimir, Ms. Erin Lake, and Underground Duelists Zero and Fang. Don't own the original series part of the plot, but I did tweak with it a bit. The main plot is owned by Kazuki Takahashi and everyone else who helped bring Yu-Gi-Oh! GX into this world. Robot Alchemic Drive is developed by Sandlot, and published by Enix, so I guess they own the game. The Meganite and Volgara cards are being posted up on Deviant Art. Final Fantasy is created by Hironobu Sakaguchi, and since I'm using Auron's appearance from the Kingdom Hearts II game, I'm adding a disclaimer for them, too. Kingdom Hearts series were created by Tetsuya Nomura and Shinji Hashimoto, both games series were developed by Square Enix, formerly known as Square before merging with Enix. Do not own Square Enix, or anything made, published, or developed by Square Enix. _**The only thing we own are the OCs, and the modifications to the original plot.**_ You guys get what we mean.


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